title: Efficient rescue of recombinant Lassa virus reveals the influence of S segment noncoding regions on virus replication and virulence.
abstract: Lassa virus (LASV), is a significant cause of severe, often fatal, hemorrhagic fever in humans throughout western Africa, with an estimated 100,000 infections each year. No vaccines are commercially available. We report the development of an efficient reverse genetics system to rescue recombinant LASV and to investigate the contributions of the long 5' and 3' noncoding regions (NCRs) of the S genomic segment to in vitro growth and in vivo virulence. This work demonstrates that deletions of large portions of these NCRs confer an attenuated phenotype and are a first step toward further insights into the high virulence of LASV.
authors.affiliation: Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, MS G14, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. bwu4@cdc.gov
authors.forename: César G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Albariño
authors.forename: Brian H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Ayan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dodd
authors.forename: Bobbie Rae
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.forename: Stuart T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Nichol
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D007836:Lassa virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D012367:RNA, Viral