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Journal of Virology, December 2007, p. 13271-13276, Vol. 81, No. 23
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.01647-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne and Enteric Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333
Received 27 July 2007/ Accepted 11 September 2007
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) causes severe human disease. The CCHFV medium RNA encodes a polyprotein which is proteolytically processed to yield the glycoprotein precursors PreGn and PreGc, followed by structural glycoproteins Gn and Gc. Subtilisin kexin isozyme-1/site-1 protease (SKI-1/S1P) plays a central role in Gn processing. Here we show that CCHFV-infected cells deficient in SKI-1/S1P produce no infectious virus, although PreGn and PreGc accumulated normally in the Golgi apparatus, the site of virus assembly. Only nucleoprotein-containing particles which lacked virus glycoproteins (Gn/Gc or PreGn/PreGc) were secreted. Complementation of SKI-1/S1P-deficient cells with a SKI-1/S1P expression vector restored release of infectious virus (>106 PFU/ml), confirming that SKI-1/S1P processing is required for incorporation of viral glycoproteins. SKI-1/S1P may represent a promising antiviral target.
Published ahead of print on 26 September 2007.
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