Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Virology, State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China
  • 2 Graduate School, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, PR China
J Gen Virol, 2016 07;97(7):1551-1556.
PMID: 27100268 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.000486

Abstract

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), a newly identified flavivirus, has rapidly spread to China, Malaysia and Thailand. The potential threats to public health have been well-highlighted; however its virulence and pathogenesis remain largely unknown. Here, by using reverse genetics, a recombinant chimeric DTMUV based on Japanese encephalitis live vaccine strain SA14-14-2 was obtained by substituting the corresponding prM and E genes (named ChinDTMUV). In vitro characterization demonstrated that ChinDTMUV replicated efficiently in mammalian cells with small-plaque phenotype in comparison with its parental viruses. Mouse tests showed ChinDTMUV exhibited avirulent phenotype in terms of neuroinvasiveness, while it retained neurovirulence from its parental virus DTMUV. Furthermore, immunization with ChinDTMUV was evidenced to elicit robust IgG and neutralizing antibody responses in mice. Overall, we successfully developed a viable chimeric DTMUV, and these results provide a useful platform for further investigation of the pathogenesis of DTMUV and development of a live attenuated DTMUV vaccine candidate.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.