A spontaneous low-pathogenic variant of Theiler's virus contains an amino acid substitution within the predominant VP1(233-250) T-cell epitope.

ABSTRACT: Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) induces immune-mediated demyelination after intracerebral inoculation of the virus into susceptible mouse strains. We isolated from a TMEV BeAn 8386 viral stock, a low-pathogenic variant which requires greater than a 10,000-fold increase in viral inoculation for the manifestation of detectable clinical signs. Intracerebral inoculation of this variant virus induced a strong, long-lasting, protective immunity from the demyelinating disease caused by pathogenic TMEV. The levels of antibodies to the whole virus as well as to the major linear epitopes were similar in mice infected with either the variant or wild-type virus. However, persistence of the variant virus in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice was significantly lower than that of th

SUBMITTER: Kim BS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC124573 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature