title: Identification of amino acids in the dengue virus type 2 envelope glycoprotein critical to virus infectivity.
abstract: The dengue virus envelope glycoprotein mediates virus attachment and entry and is the major viral antigen. The identification of 'critical' amino acids in the envelope glycoprotein that cannot be altered without loss of infectivity could have a major impact on the development of dengue virus vaccines and diagnostics. In this context, we determined whether six amino acids, previously predicted by computational analysis to play a critical role in the virus life cycle, were essential for virus viability. The effects of mutating the six 'critical' amino acids and a further seven 'neutral' amino acids were analysed by using a dengue virus type 2 infectious cDNA clone. Of the six critical amino acids, three (Asp-215, Pro-217 and His-244) were found to be essential for virus viability in mammalian and mosquito cells.
authors: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.
authors: Helga
authors: H
authors: Kroschewski
authors: Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, US Army, AMSRDECB-RT, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD 21010, USA.
authors: Jose-Luis
authors: JL
authors: Sagripanti
authors: Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.
authors: Andrew D
authors: AD
authors: Davidson
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000166:cytology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D006224:Cricetinae; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004279:DNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins