title: The first genetic characterization of a D4 measles virus strain derived from a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.
abstract: Measles virus (MV) strains derived from patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), SSPE strains, possess numerous mutations when compared to viruses belonging to the same genotype and circulating in similar time period. Although many SSPE strains have been extensively characterized, none of them belongs to D4 genotype which currently predominates in Europe where it has caused a number of recent outbreaks/epidemics. We sequenced an MV derived from a patient with long-term SSPE; the virus was named MVs/Zagreb.CRO/30.06[D4] (SSPE). Initial genetic analysis showed that it belongs to D4 genotype. The sequences of genes encoding matrix and fusion proteins indicate premature protein terminations. Putative hemagglutin (H) protein is lengthened for 20 amino acids, which is the longest H protein elongation so far found in SSPE viruses. Nucleotides 1421 A, 1422 G, 1507 C and 1542 C in nucleoprotein gene open reading frame seem to be specific for this D4 strain, differentiating it from other D4 non-SSPE strains. Besides, a unique mutation at position 543 of H protein was found, histidine instead of tyrosine. As persistent MV infections are initially established by "normal" wild-type MV strains, the presented comparative analyses describe alterations that could be involved in the maintenance of persistent infection, disease development and progression.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biomedicine Unit, Institute of Immunology Inc, Rockefeller street 10, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. jivancic@imz.hr
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ivancic-Jelecki
authors.forename: Marijana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baricevic
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santak
authors.forename: Matija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harcet
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tešović
authors.forename: Branka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marusic Della Marina
authors.forename: Dubravko
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Forcic
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D005814:Genes, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D013190:SSPE Virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D013344:Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins