Nucleotide sequence variation of the envelope protein gene identifies two distinct genotypes of yellow fever virus.

The evolution of yellow fever virus over 67 years was investigated by comparing the nucleotide sequences of the envelope (E) protein genes of 20 viruses isolated in Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. Uniformly weighted parsimony algorithm analysis defined two major evolutionary yellow fever virus lineages designated E genotypes I and II. E genotype I contained viruses isolated from East and Central Africa. E genotype II viruses were divided into two sublineages: IIA viruses from West Africa and IIB viruses from America, except for a 1979 virus isolated from Trinidad (TRINID79A). Unique signature patterns were identified at 111 nucleotide and 12 amino acid positions within the yellow fever virus E gene by signature pattern analysis. Yellow fever viruses from East and Central Africa contained unique signatures at 60 nucleotide and five amino acid positions, those from West Africa contained unique signatures at 25 nucleotide and two amino acid positions, and viruses from America contained such signatures at 30 nucleotide and five amino acid positions in the E gene. The dissemination of yellow fever viruses from Africa to the Americas is supported by the close genetic relatedness of genotype IIA and IIB viruses and genetic evidence of a possible second introduction of yellow fever virus from West Africa, as illustrated by the TRINID79A virus isolate. The E protein genes of American IIB yellow fever viruses had higher frequencies of amino acid substitutions than did genes of yellow fever viruses of genotypes I and IIA on the basis of comparisons with a consensus amino acid sequence for the yellow fever E gene. The great variation in the E proteins of American yellow fever virus probably results from positive selection imposed by virus interaction with different species of mosquitoes or nonhuman primates in the Americas.     

Yellow fever virus/dengue-2 virus and yellow fever virus/dengue-4 virus chimeras: biological characterization,immunogenicity, and protection against dengue encephalitis in the mouse model

Two yellow fever virus (YFV)/dengue virus chimeras which encode the prM and E proteins of either dengue virus serotype 2 (dengue-2 virus) or dengue-4 virus within the genome of the YFV 17D strain (YF5.2iv infectious clone) were constructed and characterized for their properties in cell culture and as experimental vaccines in mice. The prM and E proteins appeared to be properly processed and glycosylated, and in plaque reduction neutralization tests and other assays of antigenic specificity, the E proteins exhibited profiles which resembled those of the homologous dengue virus serotypes. Both chimeric viruses replicated in cell lines of vertebrate and mosquito origin to levels comparable to those of homologous dengue viruses but less efficiently than the YF5.2iv parent. YFV/dengue-4 virus, but not YFV/dengue-2 virus, was neurovirulent for 3-week-old mice by intracerebral inoculation; however, both viruses were attenuated when administered by the intraperitoneal route in mice of that age. Single-dose inoculation of either chimeric virus at a dose of 10(5) PFU by the intraperitoneal route induced detectable levels of neutralizing antibodies against the homologous dengue virus strains. Mice which had been immunized in this manner were fully protected from challenge with homologous neurovirulent dengue viruses by intracerebral inoculation compared to unimmunized mice. Protection was associated with significant increases in geometric mean titers of neutralizing antibody compared to those for unimmunized mice. These data indicate that YFV/dengue virus chimeras elicit antibodies which represent protective memory responses in the mouse model of dengue encephalitis. The levels of neurovirulence and immunogenicity of the chimeric viruses in mice correlate with the degree of adaptation of the dengue virus strain to mice. This study supports ongoing investigations concerning the use of this technology for development of a live attenuated viral vaccine against dengue viruses.     

Antibodies against the envelope glycoprotein promote infectivity of immature dengue virus serotype 2

Cross-reactive dengue virus (DENV) antibodies directed against the envelope (E) and precursor membrane (prM) proteins are believed to contribute to the development of severe dengue disease by facilitating antibody-dependent enhancement of infection. We and others recently demonstrated that anti-prM antibodies render essentially non-infectious immature DENV infectious in Fcγ-receptor-expressing cells. Immature DENV particles are abundantly present in standard (st) virus preparations due to inefficient processing of prM to M during virus maturation. Structural analysis has revealed that the E protein is exposed in immature particles and this prompted us to investigate whether antibodies to E render immature particles infectious. To this end, we analyzed the enhancing properties of 27 anti-E antibodies directed against distinct structural domains. Of these, 23 bound to immature particles, and 15 enhanced infectivity of immature DENV in a furin-dependent manner. The significance of these findings was subsequently tested in vivo using the well-established West Nile virus (WNV) mouse model. Remarkably, mice injected with immature WNV opsonized with anti-E mAbs or immune serum produced a lethal infection in a dose-dependent manner, whereas in the absence of antibody immature WNV virions caused no morbidity or mortality. Furthermore, enhancement infection studies with standard (st) DENV preparations opsonized with anti-E mAbs in the presence or absence of furin inhibitor revealed that prM-containing particles present within st virus preparations contribute to antibody-dependent enhancement of infection. Taken together, our results support the notion that antibodies against the structural proteins prM and E both can promote pathogenesis by enhancing infectivity of prM-containing immature and partially mature flavivirus particles.     

The envelope glycoprotein domain III of dengue virus serotypes 1 and 2 inhibit virus entry

Dengue virus (DV) is a flavivirus and its urban transmission is maintained largely by its mosquito vectors and vertebrate host, often human. In this study, investigation was carried out on the involvement of domain III of the envelope (E) glycosylated protein of dengue virus serotypes 1 and 2 (DV-1 and DV-2 DIII) in binding to host cell surfaces, thus mediating virus entry. Domain III protein of flavivirus can also serve as an attractive target in inhibiting virus entry. The respective DV DIII proteins were expressed as soluble recombinant fusion proteins before purification through enzymatic cleavage and affinity purification. The purified recombinant DV-1 and DV-2 DIII proteins both demonstrated the ability to inhibit the entry of DV-1 and DV-2 into HepG2 cells and C6/36 mosquito cells. As such, the DV DIII protein is indeed important for the interaction with cellular receptors in both human and mosquito cells. In addition, this protein induced antibodies that completely neutralized homologous dengue serotypes although not with the same efficiency among the heterologous serotypes. This observation may be of importance when formulating a generic vaccine that is effective against all dengue virus serotypes.     

Contribution of disulfide bridging to epitope expression of the dengue type 2 virus envelope glycoprotein

The individual contributions of each of the six conserved disulfide (SS) bonds in the dengue 2 virus envelope (E) glycoprotein (strain 16681) to epitope expression was determined by measuring the reactivities of a panel of well-defined monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with LLC-MK(2) cells that had been transiently transformed with plasmid vectors expressing E proteins that were mutant in their SS bonds. Three domain I (DI) epitopes (C1, C3, and C4) were affected by elimination of any SS bond and were essentially the only epitopes affected by elimination of the amino-proximal SS1 formed between Cys 3 and Cys 30. The remaining DI epitope (C2) was sensitive to only SS3-bond (Cys 74-Cys 105) and SS6-bond (Cys 302-Cys 333) elimination. Of the four DII epitopes examined, reactivities of three anti-epitope MAbs (A1, A2, and A5) were reduced by elimination of SS2 (Cys 61-Cys 121), SS3, SS4 (Cys 94-Cys 116), SS5 (Cys 185-Cys 285), or SS6. The other DII epitope examined (A3) was sensitive only to SS2- and SS3-bond elimination. The three DIII epitopes tested (B2, B3, and B4) were most sensitive to elimination of SS6. The flavivirus group epitope (A1) was less sensitive to elimination of SS3 and SS6. This result may indicate that the region proximal to the E-protein fusion motif (amino acids 98 to 110) may have important linear components. If this observation can be confirmed, peptide mimics from this region of E protein might be able to interfere with flavivirus replication.     

Nucleotide sequence of a cDNA clone carrying the glycoprotein gene of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus, a fish rhabdovirus.

The nucleotide sequence of the mRNA encoding the glycoprotein of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus was determined from a cDNA clone containing the entire coding region. The G-protein cDNA is 1,609 nucleotides long (excluding the polyadenylic acid) and encodes a protein of 508 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence was compared with that of the glycoprotein of the Indiana and New Jersey serotypes of vesicular stomatitis virus and with the glycoprotein of rabies virus, using a computer program which determined optimal alignment. An amino acid identity of approximately 20% was found between infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus and the two vesicular stomatitis virus serotypes and between infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus and rabies virus. The positions and sizes of the signal sequence and transmembrane domain and the possible glycosylation sites were determined.     

Nucleotide sequence of the herpes simplex virus type 2 thymidine kinase gene.

We have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the thymidine kinase gene of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 strain 333. The sequence of the thymidine kinase gene exhibits an open translational reading frame of 1,128 nucleotides encoding a protein of 376 amino acids. The DNA sequence was compared with that of the HSV type 1 thymidine kinase gene from strain MP (S. L. McKnight, Nucleic Acids Res. 8:5949-5964, 1980) and from strain CL 101 (M. J. Wagner, J. A. Sharp, and W. C. Summers, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78:1441-1445, 1981) to assess the extent of intra- and intertypic variation for one viral gene. The nucleotides encoding the structural gene varied 1.7% between the two HSV type 1 strains and 19% between HSV type 1 and HSV type 2, which translated to differences in the amino acid sequence of the two proteins of 1.9 and 27%, respectively. The DNA encoding the 5' regulatory sequences appeared to be more conserved than the DNA coding for the structural gene, and the DNA at the 3' end of the gene was the least homologous.     

Variable surface epitopes in the crystal structure of dengue virus type 3 envelope glycoprotein

Dengue virus is an emerging global health threat. The major envelope glycoprotein, E, mediates viral attachment and entry by membrane fusion. Antibodies that bind but fail to neutralize noncognate serotypes enhance infection. We have determined the crystal structure of a soluble fragment of the envelope glycoprotein E from dengue virus type 3. The structure closely resembles those of E proteins from dengue type 2 and tick-borne encephalitis viruses. Serotype-specific neutralization escape mutants in dengue virus E proteins are all located on a surface of domain III, which has been implicated in receptor binding. While antibodies against epitopes in domain I are nonneutralizing in dengue virus, there are neutralizing antibodies that recognize serotype-conserved epitopes in domain II. The mechanism of neutralization for these antibodies is probably inhibition of membrane fusion. Our structure shows that neighboring glycans on the viral surface are spaced widely enough (at least 32 A) that they can interact with multiple carbohydrate recognition domains on oligomeric lectins such as DC-SIGN, ensuring maximum affinity for these putative receptors.     

Nucleotide sequence changes in polyoma virus A gene mutants.

The mutational alterations in polyoma virus mutants ts-a and ts-25E which cause their large T-antigens to be thermolabile have been identified. In ts-a, a G leads to A transition at nucleotide 2193 causes the replacement of Ala (GCT) by Thr (ACT). In ts-25E, a G leads to T transversion at nucleotide 2883 causes the replacement of Gly (GGC) by Cys (TGC). Revertants of both mutants have been isolated and shown to have the original nucleotides restored at these positions.