Respiratory syncytial virus modified by deletions of the NS2 gene and amino acid S1313 of the L polymerase protein is a temperature-sensitive, live-attenuated vaccine candidate that is phenotypically stable at physiological temperature.

ABSTRACT: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading viral cause of lower respiratory tract disease in infants and children worldwide. In previous work to develop point mutations in RSV with improved genetic stability, we observed that an attenuating mutation at amino acid position 1321 in the L polymerase protein was subject to deattenuation by a spontaneous second-site compensatory mutation at position 1313 (C. Luongo, C. C. Winter, P. L. Collins, and U. J. Buchholz, J. Virol. 86:10792-10804, 2012). In the present study, we found that deletion of position 1313 (Δ1313), irrespective of the presence of an attenuating mutation at position 1321, provided a new attenuating mutation. RSV bearing Δ1313 replicated in cell culture as efficiently as wild-type virus at 32°C, was restricted for re

SUBMITTER: Luongo C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3571493 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature