Measles Virus Bearing Measles Inclusion Body Encephalitis-Derived Fusion Protein Is Pathogenic after Infection via the Respiratory Route.

ABSTRACT: A clinical isolate of measles virus (MeV) bearing a single amino acid alteration in the viral fusion protein (F; L454W) was previously identified in two patients with lethal sequelae of MeV central nervous system (CNS) infection. The mutation dysregulated the viral fusion machinery so that the mutated F protein mediated cell fusion in the absence of known MeV cellular receptors. While this virus could feasibly have arisen via intrahost evolution of the wild-type (wt) virus, it was recently shown that the same mutation emerged under the selective pressure of small-molecule antiviral treatment. Under these conditions, a potentially neuropathogenic variant emerged outside the CNS. While CNS adaptation of MeV was thought to generate viruses that are less fit for interhost spread, we show that

SUBMITTER: Mathieu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6450100 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature