title: Soluble Glycoprotein Is Not Required for Ebola Virus Virulence in Guinea Pigs.
abstract: Ebola virus (EBOV) uses transcriptional editing to express several glycoproteins (GPs), including secreted soluble GP (sGP) and structural GP1,2, from a single gene. Recombinant viruses predominantly expressing GP1,2 are known to rapidly mutate and acquire an editing site predominantly expressing sGP in vivo, suggesting an important role of this protein during infection. Therefore, we generated a recombinant virus that is no longer able to express sGP and assessed its virulence in the EBOV guinea pig model. Surprisingly, although this virus remained genetically stable, it did not show any significant attenuation in vivo, showing that sGP is not required for virulence in this model.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoenen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marzi
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana.
authors.forename: Dana P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana.
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feldmann
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Callison
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Safronetz
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ebihara
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology.
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feldmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005260:Female; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000821:virology*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: ebola virus; guinea pigs; mRNA editing; recombinant virus; reverse genetics; sGP; soluble glycoprotein; virulence