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A truncated T antigen expressed from an alternatively spliced BK virus early mRNA

University of Michigan

¹ E-mail: imperial{at}umich.edu

The early region of BK virus (BKV) is known to encode two well-characterized tumor antigens, large T antigen (TAg) and small t antigen (tAg). In this study, we provide evidence of a third early BKV mRNA that codes for an additional early region product with an apparent molecular weight of 17-20 kDa. This truncated form of TAg (truncTAg) is expressed from an alternatively spliced mRNA that is derived from the excision of a second intron from the mRNA encoding TAg. The first 133 amino acids of truncTAg are identical to those of TAg, but the additional splice results in translation from a different reading frame, adding three new amino acids before reaching a stop codon. TruncTAg is expressed in both BKV-transformed and lytically infected cells, and it is found to be primarily localized to the nucleus. The function of BKV truncTAg is likely relevant to transformation, similar to the additional T antigens of SV40, JC virus, and mouse polyomavirus.

Received 28 November 2008; accepted 19 January 2009.

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