title: Discrimination of mumps virus small hydrophobic gene deletion effects from gene translation effects on virus virulence.
abstract: Deletion of the small hydrophobic (SH) protein of certain paramyxoviruses has been found to result in attenuation, suggesting that the SH protein is a virulence factor. To investigate the role of the mumps virus (MuV) SH protein in virulence, multiple stop codons were introduced into the open reading frame (ORF) of a MuV molecular clone (r88-1961(SHstop)), preserving genome structure but precluding production of the SH protein. No differences in neurovirulence were seen between the wild-type and the SH(stop) viruses. In contrast, upon deletion of the SH gene, significant neuroattenuation was observed. These data indicate that the MuV SH protein is not a neurovirulence factor and highlight the importance of distinguishing gene deletion effects from protein-specific effects.
authors.affiliation: DVP/Office of Vaccines Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. tahir.malik@fda.hhs.gov
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Candie Wolbert
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Shegogue
authors.forename: Kellie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauder
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: William Paul
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Duprex
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rubin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018388:Codon, Terminator; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000821:virology; D009109:Mumps virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D018388:Codon, Terminator; D014764:Viral Proteins; C067386:small hydrophobic protein, Mumps virus