期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1991
卷号:88
期号:22
页码:10342-10346
DOI:10.1073/pnas.88.22.10342
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Dengue virus contains an 11-kilobase positive-strand RNA genome that codes for, in one open reading frame, three structural proteins (capsid, premembrane, and envelope), followed by seven nonstructural proteins. The structural protein genes of a full-length cDNA clone of type 4 dengue virus were replaced with the corresponding genes of dengue 1 or dengue 2 to create intertypic chimeric cDNA. The RNA transcripts made from these templates were infectious when transfected into permissive cells in culture. Progeny of chimeric cDNA produced apparently authentic dengue 1 or dengue 2 structural proteins, together with dengue 4 nonstructural proteins, and as a consequence exhibited type 1 or type 2 serological specificity. Both of the chimeras ultimately grew to the same titer as their type 1 or type 2 parent, but the type 2/type 4 chimera grew very slowly. This chimera also produced small plaques; in contrast, the type 1/type 4 chimera produced normal size plaques. The type 2/type 4 chimera retained the mouse neurovirulence of the dengue 2 virus, which was the source of its structural protein genes. Each of the mice inoculated intracerebrally with the chimera died, but survival time was prolonged. The retardation of replication of the type 2/type 4 chimeric virus suggests that this virus and possibly other intertypic dengue virus chimeras with similar properties should be examined for attenuation in primates and possible usefulness in a live dengue virus vaccine for humans.