Epistastic Interactions within the Junin Virus Envelope Glycoprotein Complex Provide an Evolutionary Barrier to Reversion in the Live-Attenuated Candid#1 Vaccine.

ABSTRACT: The Candid#1 strain of Junín virus was developed using a conventional attenuation strategy of serial passage in nonhost animals and cultured cells. The live-attenuated Candid#1 vaccine is used in Argentina to protect at-risk individuals against Argentine hemorrhagic fever, but it has not been licensed in the United States. Recent studies have revealed that Candid#1 attenuation is entirely dependent on a phenylalanine-to-isoleucine substitution at position 427 in the fusion subunit (GP2) of the viral envelope glycoprotein complex (GPC), thereby raising concerns regarding the potential for reversion to virulence. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of an intragenic epistatic interaction between the attenuating F427I mutation in GP2 and a lysine-to-serine mutation

SUBMITTER: York J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5730776 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature