A homolog of the variola virus B22 membrane protein contributes to ectromelia virus pathogenicity in the mouse footpad model

作者：Reynolds Sara E; Earl Patricia L; Minai Mahnaz; Moore Ian; Moss Bernard^*

来源：Virology, 2017, 501: 107-114.

DOI：10.1016/j.virol.2016.11.010

• Poxvirus
• Viral pathogenicity
• Host defense
• Innate immunity
• T cells
• Ectromelia virus

Most poxviruses encode a homolog of a similar to 200,000-kDa membrane protein originally identified in variola virus. We investigated the importance of the ectromelia virus (ECTV) homolog C15 in a natural infection model. In cultured mouse cells, the replication of a mutant virus with stop codons near the N-terminus (ECTV-C15Stop) was indistinguishable from a control virus (ECTV-C15Rev). However, for a range of doses injected into the footpads of BALB/c mice there was less mortality with the mutant. Similar virus loads were present at the site of infection with mutant or control virus whereas there was less ECTV-C15Stop in popliteal and inguinal lymph nodes, spleen and liver indicating decreased virus spread and replication. The latter results were supported by immunohistochemical analyses. Decreased spread was evidently due to immune modulatory activity of C15, rather than to an intrinsic viral function, as the survival of infected mice depended on CD4+ and CDS+ T cells.

• 出版日期2017-1-15
• 单位NIH