Deficient incorporation of spike protein into virions contributes to the lack of infectivity following establishment of a persistent, non-productive infection in oligodendroglial cell culture by murine coronavirus

Journal Article · Wed Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Virology

OSTI ID:21484507

Yin, Liu ^[1]; Herbst, Werner ^[2]; Jianzhong, Cao ^[1]

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1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205-7199 (United States)
2. Institut fuer Hygiene und Infektionskrankheiten der Tiere, Justus-Liebig-Universitaet Giessen, Giessen (Germany)

Infection of mouse oligodendrocytes with a recombinant mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) expressing a green fluorescence protein facilitated specific selection of virus-infected cells and subsequent establishment of persistence. Interestingly, while viral genomic RNAs persisted in infected cells over 14 subsequent passages with concomitant synthesis of viral subgenomic mRNAs and structural proteins, no infectious virus was isolated beyond passage 2. Further biochemical and electron microscopic analyses revealed that virions, while assembled, contained little spike in the envelope, indicating that lack of infectivity during persistence was likely due to deficiency in spike incorporation. This type of non-lytic, non-productive persistence in oligodendrocytes is unique among animal viruses and resembles MHV persistence previously observed in the mouse central nervous system. Thus, establishment of such a culture system that can recapitulate the in vivo phenomenon will provide a powerful approach for elucidating the mechanisms of coronavirus persistence in glial cells at the cellular and molecular levels.

• OSTI ID: 21484507
• Journal Information: Virology, Vol. 409, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2010.10.006; PII: S0042-6822(10)00642-2; Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0042-6822
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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