title: In vitro and in vivo characterization of a West Nile virus MAD78 infectious clone.
abstract: The viral determinants governing the varied neuropathogenicity of different West Nile virus (WNV) strains are poorly understood. Here, we generated an infectious clone (WNV-MAD(IC)) of the non-pathogenic strain WNV-MAD78 and compared its replication to that of parental WNV-MAD78 and a WNV-MAD78 infectious clone (WNV-MAD(TX-UTRs)) containing the 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of the pathogenic strain WNV-TX. All three viruses replicated at similar rates and caused similar lethality in mice. Thus, the infectious clone is indistinguishable from parental virus in replication and neurovirulence, and the UTRs alone do not account for the increased virulence of WNV-TX compared to WNV-MAD78.
authors.affiliation: Maryland Pathogen Research Institute, University of Maryland-College Park, College Park, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hussmann
authors.forename: Rianna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vandergaast
authors.forename: Susan Park
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ochsner
authors.forename: Albert C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: Brenda L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Fredericksen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020506:Untranslated Regions; D014709:Vero Cells; D014774:Virulence; D014779:Virus Replication; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000821:virology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D020506:Untranslated Regions