Conserved residues of the immunosuppressive domain of MLV are essential for regulating the fusion-critical SU-TM disulfide bond.

The Env protein of murine leukemia virus (MLV) is the prototype of a large clade of retroviral fusogens, collectively known as gamma-type Envs. Gamma-type Envs are found in retroviruses and endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) representing a broad range of vertebrate hosts. All gamma-type Envs contain a highly conserved stretch of 26-residues in the transmembrane subunit (TM) comprising two motifs, a putative immunosuppressive domain (ISD) and a CXCC motif.

Developmental alcohol exposure impairs synaptic plasticity without overtly altering microglial function in mouse visual cortex.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), caused by gestational ethanol (EtOH) exposure, is one of the most common causes of non-heritable and life-long mental disability worldwide, with no standard treatment or therapy available. While EtOH exposure can alter the function of both neurons and glia, it is still unclear how EtOH influences brain development to cause deficits in sensory and cognitive processing later in life. Microglia play an important role in shaping synaptic function and plasticity during neural circuit development and have been shown to mount an acute immunological response to EtOH exposure in certain brain regions.