title: Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus leader protein amino acid residue 57 regulates subgroup-specific virus growth on BHK-21 cells.
abstract: Strains of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) are divided into two subgroups, TO and GDVII. TMEV strains show subgroup-specific virus growth and cell tropism and induce subgroup-specific diseases. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we demonstrated that the amino acid at position 57 of the leader protein (L(57)), which is located at the most N-terminal part of the polyprotein, regulates subgroup-specific virus growth on BHK-21 cells. Further study suggested that L(57) may regulate viral RNA encapsidation, although it does not affect the synthesis of viral proteins or the assembly of viral intermediates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Uchinada, Ishikawa 920-0293, Japan. ohara@kanazawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takano-Maruyama
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohara
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asakura
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okuwa
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D017931:DNA Primers; D040461:Gene Components; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017945:Theilovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D017931:DNA Primers; D014764:Viral Proteins