title: The ORF37 (UL24) is a neuropathogenicity determinant of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) in the mouse encephalitis model.
abstract: Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) bacterial artificial chromosome clone (Ab4p BAC) was established based on neuropathogenic strain Ab4p. ORF37 encoding UL24 was replaced with a selection cassette, rpsL-neo gene, to produce an ORF37 deletion mutant, Ab4pORF37. Transfection of RK-13 cells with Ab4pORF37 genome DNA produced infectious virus, indicating that ORF37 is not essential for EHV-1 replication in cell culture. Deletion of ORF37 had no effect on the transcript expression of neighboring genes, ORF36 and ORF38, and the growth activity in MDBK cells. Ab4pDeltaORF37 lost neuropathogenicity in CBA/N1 mice as indicated by the absence of any neurological disorders and death. The growth of Ab4pDeltaORF37 in cultivated neural cells was one order of magnitude lower than that of parental and revertant viruses. These results indicated that the ORF37 is a neuropathogenicity determinant of EHV-1 in the mouse encephalitis model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Veterinary Sciences, United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Samy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasem
authors.forename: Mi Htay Htay
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Souichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Akari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kodaira
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsujimura
authors.forename: Hanafy
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Madbouly
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohya
authors.forename: Hideto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukushi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D004861:Herpesvirus 1, Equid / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008168:Lung / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D011817:Rabbits; D019562:Viral Load; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors