Amino Acid Polymorphisms on the Brazilian Strain of Yellow Fever Virus Methyltransferase Are Related to the Host's Immune Evasion Mediated by Type I Interferon.

ABSTRACT: Since late 2016, a yellow fever virus (YFV) variant carrying a set of nine amino acid variations has circulated in South America. Three of them were mapped on the methyltransferase (MTase) domain of viral NS5 protein. To assess whether these changes affected viral infectivity, we synthesized YFV carrying the MTase of circulating lineage as well as its isoform with the residues of the previous strains (NS5 K101R, NS5 V138I, and NS5 G173S). We observed a slight difference in viral growth properties and plaque phenotype between the two synthetic YFVs. However, the MTase polymorphisms associated with the Brazilian strain of YFV (2016-2019) confer more susceptibility to the IFN-I. In addition, in vitro MTase assay revealed that the interaction between the YFV MTase and the methyl donor molecule

SUBMITTER: Furtado ND 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9863089 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature