Masking of the contribution of V protein to Sendai virus pathogenesis in an infection model with a highly virulent field isolate

Takemasa Sakaguchi, Katsuhiro Kiyotani, Hitoshi Watanabe, Cheng Huang, Noriko Fukuhara, Yutaka Fujii, Yukie Shimazu, Fumihiro Sugahara, Yoshiyuki Nagai, Tetsuya Yoshida

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sendai virus V protein is not essential for virus replication in cultured cells but is essential for efficient virus replication and pathogenesis in mice, indicating that the V protein has a luxury function to facilitate virus propagation in mice. This was discovered in the Z strain, an egg-adapted avirulent laboratory strain. In the present study, we reexamined the function of Sendai virus V protein by generating a V-knockout Sendai virus derived from the Hamamatsu strain, a virulent field isolate, which is an appropriate model for studying the natural course of Sendai virus infection in mice. We unexpectedly found that the V-knockout virus propagated efficiently in mice and was as virulent as the wild-type virus. Switching of the functionally important V unique region demonstrated that this region of the Hamamatsu strain was also functional in a Z strain background. It thus appears that the V protein is nonsense in a field isolate of Sendai virus. However, the V protein was required for virus growth and pathogenesis of the Hamamatsu strain in mice when the virulence of the virus was attenuated by introducing mutations that had been found in an egg-adapted, avirulent virus. The V protein therefore seems to be potentially functional in the highly virulent Hamamatsu strain and to be prominent if virus replication is restricted.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)581-587
Number of pages7
JournalVirology
Volume313
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2003

Keywords

  • Field isolate
  • Pathogenesis
  • Reverse genetics
  • Sendai virus
  • V protein

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Virology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Masking of the contribution of V protein to Sendai virus pathogenesis in an infection model with a highly virulent field isolate'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this