Genetic divergence among the group B coxsackieviruses

Role of GNRA Motif Mutations within Stem-Loop V of Internal Ribosome Entry Segment in Coxsackievirus B3 Molecular Attenuation

The lengthy 5' nontranslated region of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) forms a highly ordered secondary structure containing an internal ribosome entry segment (IRES), which plays an important role in controlling viral translation and pathogenesis. The stem-loop V (SL-V) of this IRES contains a large lateral bulge loop which encompasses two conserved GNRA motifs. In this study, we analyzed the effects of point mutations within the GNRA motifs of the CVB3 IRES. We characterized in vitro virus production and translation efficiency and we tested in vivo virulence of two CVB3 mutants produced by site-directed mutagenesis. The GNAA1 and GNAA2 RNAs displayed decreased translation initiation efficiency when translated in rabbit reticulocyte lysates. This translation defect was correlated with reduced yields of infectious virus particles in HeLa cells in comparison with the wild type. When inoculated orally into Swiss mice, both mutant viruses were avirulent and caused neither inflammation nor necrosis in hearts. These results highlight the important role of the GNRA motifs within the SL-V of the IRES of CVB3, in directing translation initiation.

Attenuating mutations in coxsackievirus B3 map to a conformational epitope that comprises the puff region of VP2 and the knob of VP3

Ten antibody escape mutants of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) were used to identify nucleotide substitutions that determine viral virulence for the heart and pancreas. The P1 region, encoding the structural genes of each mutant, was sequenced to identify mutations associated with the lack of neutralization. Eight mutants were found to have a lysine-to arginine mutation in the puff region of VP2, while two had a glutamate-to-glycine substitution in the knob of VP3. Two mutants, EM1 and EM10, representing each of these mutations, were further analyzed, initially by determining their entire sequence. In addition to the mutations in P1, EM1 was found to have two mutations in the 3D polymerase, while EM10 had a mutation in stem-loop II of the 5' nontranslated region (5'NTR). The pathogenesis of the mutants relative to that of CVB3 strain RK [CVB3(RK)] then was examined in A/J mice. Both mutants were found to be less cardiotropic than the parental strain, with a 40-fold (EM1) or a 100- to 1,000-fold (EM10) reduction in viral titers in the heart relative to the titers of CVB3(RK). The mutations in VP2, VP3, and the 5'NTR were introduced independently into the RK infectious clone, and the phenotypes of the progeny viruses were determined. The results substantiated that the VP2 and VP3 mutations reduced cardiovirulence, while the 5'NTR mutation in EM10 was associated with a more virulent phenotype when expressed on its own. Stereographic imaging of the two mutations in the capsomer showed that they lie in close proximity on either side of a narrow cleft between the puff and the knob, forming a conformational epitope that is part of the putative binding site for coreceptor DAF.

A predicted secondary structural domain within the internal ribosome entry site of echovirus 12 mediates a cell-type-specific block to viral replication

The enterovirus 5' nontranslated region (NTR) contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES), which facilitates translation initiation of the viral open reading frame in a 5' (m(7)GpppN) cap-independent manner, and cis-acting signals for positive-strand RNA replication. For several enteroviruses, the 5' NTR has been shown to determine the virulence phenotype. We have constructed a chimera consisting of the putative IRES element from the Travis strain of echovirus 12 (ECV12), a wild-type, relatively nonvirulent human enterovirus, exchanged with the homologous region of a full-length infectious clone of coxsackievirus B3 (CBV3). The resulting chimera, known as ECV12(5'NTR)CBV3, replicates similarly to CBV3 in human and simian cell lines yet, unlike CBV3, is completely restricted for growth on two primary murine cell lines at 37 degrees C. By utilizing a reverse-genetics approach, the growth restriction phenotype was localized to the predicted stem-loop II within the IRES of ECV12. In addition, a revertant of ECV12(5'NTR)CBV3 was isolated which possessed three transition mutations and had restored capability for replication in the utilized murine cell lines. Assays for cardiovirulence indicated that the ECV12 IRES is responsible for a noncardiovirulent phenotype in a murine model for acute myocarditis. The results indicate that the 5' NTRs of ECV12 and CBV3 exhibit variable intracellular requirements for function and serve as secondary determinants of tissue or species tropism.

Group B coxsackievirus myocarditis and pancreatitis: connection between viral virulence phenotypes in mice

The group B coxsackieviruses (CVB) induce experimental pancreatitis and myocarditis in mice and are established agents of human myocarditis, especially in children. We tested the hypothesis that the development of CVB-induced myocarditis is linked to CVB-induced pancreatitis by studying the replication of different CVB strains in mice. Eight of nine genotypically different type 3 CVB (CVB3) strains induced acute pancreatitis in mice; of these, three viruses also induced acute myocarditis. One CVB3 strain was avirulent for both organs. Myocarditis was not observed in the absence of pancreatitis. The results obtained by inoculation of mice with strains of other CVB serotypes were consistent with these data. Infectious virus titers were measured in serum, pancreas, and heart as a function of time after inoculation of mice with three CVB3 strains. Each strain was representative of one of the three viral virulence phenotypes: avirulent, pancreovirulent only, and cardiovirulent. All strains replicated well and persisted in the pancreas through 8 days post-inoculation, but the cardiovirulent CVB3 strain tended to replicate to higher titer earlier and persist longer in sera, pancreatic, and cardiac tissues than the noncardiovirulent strains. Replication of the CVB3 strains were studied in two human pancreatic tumor lines and in primary human endothelial cell cultures derived from cardiac artery. Cardiovirulent strains, both individually and as a group, tended to replicate to titers as high as, or higher than, noncardiovirulent strains did in cell culture. The data are consistent with the possibility of an etiologic link between CVB-induced pancreatic and heart disease.

A group B coxsackievirus/poliovirus 5' nontranslated region chimera can act as an attenuated vaccine strain in mice

The linear, single-stranded enterovirus RNA genome is flanked at either end with a nontranslated region (NTR). By replacing the entire 5' NTR of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) with that from type 1 poliovirus, a progeny virus was obtained following transfection of HeLa cells. The chimeric virus, CPV/49, replicates like the parental CVB3 strain in HeLa cells but is attenuated for replication and yield in primary human coronary artery endothelial cell cultures, in a human pancreas tumor cell line, and in primary murine heart fibroblast cultures. Western blotting analyses of CPV/49 replication in murine heart fibroblast cultures demonstrate that synthesis of CPV/49 proteins is significantly slower than that of the parental CVB3 strain. CPV/49 replicates in murine hearts and pancreata, causing no disease in hearts and a minor pancreatic inflammation in some mice that resolves by 28 days postinoculation. A single inoculation with CPV/49 induces protective anti-CVB3 neutralizing antibody titers that completely protect mice from both heart and pancreatic disease when mice are challenged 28 days p.i. with genetically diverse virulent strains of CVB3. That a chimeric CVB3 strain, created from sequences of two virulent viruses, is sufficiently attenuated to act as an avirulent, protective vaccine strain in mice suggests that chimeric genome technology merits further evaluation for the development of new nonpoliovirus enteroviral vectors.

A genotypic characterization of enteroviral antigenic variants isolated in eastern Canada

Antigenic variation within serotypes of enteroviruses can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of routine diagnosis by neutralization assays. The focus of this particular study was to initiate a genetic characterization of echovirus type 9 (E9) antigenic variants and nontypeable strains isolated in Canada from 1991 to 1993. All variant strains were initially identified by the serological parameter of neutralization 'breakthrough' during conventional serotyping using the Lim-Benyesh-Melnick antiserum pools and by assessing neutralization endpoints using micro-neutralization methodology. Both E9 variant and non-variant isolates were further characterized by sequencing amplicons generated from the VP2 capsid protein-coding region of these particular strains. Variants from the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick were shown to include a number of genotypically distinct strains and all the variant strains were significantly different from non-variant E9 isolates when nucleotide sequences were compared. A similar genetic analysis of two completely non-typeable isolates from Quebec showed that these viruses seemed to belong to a genetic cluster of enteroviruses that included coxsackievirus A16 and enterovirus 71 serotypes. The use of genetic typing by sequence analysis provides a molecular tool for determining the genotypic diversity of variant and non-typeable isolates and their possible relatedness to other enteroviral strains.

Echovirus 5: infectious transcripts and complete nucleotide sequence from uncloned cDNA

Echovirus 5 (EV5) may be isolated from various neurological and exanthematic diseases. To determine the relationship of EV5 to other enteroviruses and for studies of its interactions with the target cell, the complete nucleotide sequence of EV5 was determined. Three overlapping fragments, collectively representing the complete genome, were amplified with RT-PCR and sequenced. Analysis of the EV5 sequence revealed a typical enterovirus-like organization of the genome. To verify that the cDNA generated sequence was derived from infectious viruses, complete EV5 genomes were amplified in one amplicon by long distance PCR. Transfection of in vitro transcribed RNA from these amplicons into cell cultures resulted in replicating EV5. Comparison of the overall nucleotide and amino acid sequences demonstrates that EV5 can be regarded as a coxsackievirus B-like enterovirus. Variable sequences between EV5 and the well characterized coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) are for the most part observed for amino acid residues that correspond to exposed sequences in the CVB3 capsid. This observation indicates that the reported EV5 strain recently diverged from group B coxsackieviruses.