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Journal of Virology, December 1998, p. 9628-9636, Vol. 72, No. 12
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Targeted Recombination within the Spike Gene of
Murine Coronavirus Mouse Hepatitis Virus-A59: Q159 Is a Determinant
of Hepatotropism
Isabelle
Leparc-Goffart,1,
Susan T.
Hingley,2
Ming Ming
Chua,1
Joanna
Phillips,1
Ehud
Lavi,3 and
Susan R.
Weiss1,*
Departments of
Microbiology1 and
Pathology,3 University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6076, and
Department of Microbiology, Philadelphia College of
Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania2 19131
Received 19 May 1998/Accepted 24 August 1998
Previous studies of a group of mutants of the murine coronavirus
mouse hepatitis virus (MHV)-A59, isolated from persistently infected
glial cells, have shown a strong correlation between a Q159L amino acid
substitution in the S1 subunit of the spike gene and a loss in the
ability to induce hepatitis and demyelination. To determine if Q159L
alone is sufficient to cause these altered pathogenic properties,
targeted RNA recombination was used to introduce a Q159L amino acid
substitution into the spike gene of MHV-A59. Recombination was carried
out between the genome of a temperature-sensitive mutant of MHV-A59
(Alb4) and RNA transcribed from a plasmid (pFV1) containing the spike
gene as well as downstream regions, through the 3' end, of the MHV-A59
genome. We have selected and characterized two recombinant viruses
containing Q159L. These recombinant viruses (159R36 and 159R40)
replicate in the brains of C57BL/6 mice and induce encephalitis to a
similar extent as wild-type MHV-A59. However, they exhibit a markedly
reduced ability to replicate in the liver or produce hepatitis compared
to wild-type MHV-A59. These viruses also exhibit reduced virulence and
reduced demyelination. A recombinant virus containing the wild-type
MHV-A59 spike gene, wtR10, behaved essentially like wild-type MHV-A59. This is the first report of the isolation of recombinant viruses containing a site-directed mutation, encoding an amino acid
substitution, within the spike gene of any coronavirus. This technology
will allow us to begin to map the molecular determinants of
pathogenesis within the spike glycoprotein.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of
Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania, 36th St. and Hamilton Walk,
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6076. Phone: (215) 898-8013. Fax: (215)
573-4858. E-mail: weisssr{at}mail.med.upenn.edu.

Present address: Division of Molecular Virology, Baylor College of
Medicine, Houston, TX
77030.
Journal of Virology, December 1998, p. 9628-9636, Vol. 72, No. 12
0022-538X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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