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Molecular analysis of the mutational effects of Thai street rabies virus with increased virulence in mice after passages in the BHK cell line

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Abstract

QS-BHK-P7, street rabies virus, after passages in the BHK cell line, had an in vitro phenotype that distinguished it from its parental virus. Both viruses caused lethal infection in mice by central nervous system inoculation; however, only QS-BHK-P7 killed mice by the intramuscular route. We found four mutations, S23R and H424P in ectodomain of the glycoprotein (G), I1711 V in the polymerase genes, and another at the non-coding region between the phosphoprotein and matrix protein genes of QS-BHK-P7. None of the mutations in the G gene occurred in previously reported pathogenic determinants. The roles of mutations in particular non-coding regions remain to be elucidated.

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Acknowledgments

This work was part of the encephalitis project, supported by Thailand Research Fund through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program (Grant No.PHD/0020/2550) (PV and TH), the Naval Health Research Center BAA-10-93 under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-11-2-0041, the Thailand Research Fund (DBG5180026) and the Higher Education Research Promotion and National Research University Project of Thailand, Office of the Higher Education Commission (HR1160A-55). The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Viral Zoonoses, Chulalongkorn University and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Phatthamon Virojanapirom, Supaporn Wacharapluesadee & Thiravat Hemachudha

  2. Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

    Pakamatz Khawplod & Artikaya Sawangvaree

  3. Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Oita University, Yufu, Oita, Japan

    Kentaro Yamada & Akira Nishizono

  4. Yasuda Women’s University, Hiroshima, 731-0153, Japan

    Kinjiro Morimoto

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  1. Phatthamon Virojanapirom
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Correspondence to Phatthamon Virojanapirom.

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Virojanapirom, P., Khawplod, P., Sawangvaree, A. et al. Molecular analysis of the mutational effects of Thai street rabies virus with increased virulence in mice after passages in the BHK cell line. Arch Virol 157, 2201–2205 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-012-1402-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-012-1402-z

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