Meningoencephalitis in mice infected with an equine herpesvirus 1 strain KyA recombinant expressing glycoprotein I and glycoprotein E.
One of the consequences of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) infection in the natural host is a neurological disease that can lead to paralysis. The pathology associated with EHV-1-induced neurological disease includes vasculitis of the small blood vessels within the central nervous system and subsequent damage to the surrounding neural tissue. In a previous study, an EHV-1 recombinant KyA virus (KgI/gE/75) was generated in which the sequences encoding glycoprotein I (gI) and glycoprotein E (gE) were repaired [Frampton et al. 2002 (Virus Research 90: 287-301)] using genes of the pathogenic EHV-1 strain 89c25. In contrast to the parental KyA virus that lacks gI and gE, the recombinant KgI/gE/75 was able to spread to the brains of CBA mice after intranasal infection. Infection resulted in a meningoencephalitis characterized by lymphocytic cuffing of small blood vessels within the brain, consistent with that observed in EHV-1-infected horses exhibiting neurological signs. KgI/gE/75 was able to elicit cytopathology in the lung prior to spread to the brain. However, like the attenuated KyA strain, KgI/gE/75 did not persist in the lung and was completely cleared from lung tissue by day 5 postinfection. We propose that gI and gE are neurovirulence factors for EHV-1, and that the CBA mouse model can be extended to study neurologic sequelae resulting after EHV-1 infection.
Frampton
Arthur R
AR
Center for Molecular and Tumor Virology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport 71130, USA.
Smith
Patrick M
PM
Zhang
Yunfei
Y
Grafton
Warren D
WD
Matsumura
Tomio
T
Osterrieder
Nikolaus
N
O'Callaghan
Dennis J
DJ
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D004861:Herpesvirus 1, Equid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000821:virology; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014774:Virulence
D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins