Minus-strand RNA synthesis in the spinal cords of mice persistently infected with Theiler's virus.
Theiler's virus, a murine picornavirus, causes a chronic neurological disease characterized by primary demyelination in SJL/J mice. The lesions are very reminiscent of those of multiple sclerosis. Theiler's virus persists in oligodendrocytes and to a lesser extent in astrocytes and macrophages throughout the disease. Viral RNA and capsid protein syntheses are minimal in these cells. This restriction could play a central role in the mechanism of virus persistence. By quantitating plus- and minus-strand RNAs in infected central nervous system cells, we showed that RNA replication was blocked at the level of minus-strand RNA synthesis.
Cash
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Département de Virologie, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Chamorro
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Brahic
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D000818:Animals; D002213:Capsid / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*
D012367:RNA, Viral