The molecular basis of virulence of the encephalitogenic flaviviruses

Flaviviruses are small (50 nm), lipid enveloped RNA viruses (Westaway et al., 1986), most of which are arthropod-transmitted, and several of which cause clinically significant human diseases including yellow fever, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis (reviewed in Monath &...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of general virology 1997-11, Vol.78 ( Pt 11) (11), p.2711-2722
1. Verfasser: McMinn, P C
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Flaviviruses are small (50 nm), lipid enveloped RNA viruses (Westaway et al., 1986), most of which are arthropod-transmitted, and several of which cause clinically significant human diseases including yellow fever, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis (reviewed in Monath & Heinz, 1996). Members of the genus Flavivirus within the family Flaviviridae have been grouped into eight antigenic complexes on the basis of cross-reactivity in neutralization assays (Calisher et al., 1989); all except two of the viruses which cause encephalitis belong to either the Japanese encephalitis virus (JE) antigenic complex (mosquito-transmitted) or to the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE) antigenic complex. The two exceptions are Rocio virus, a mosquito-transmitted virus not currently classified within an antigenic complex but which cross-reacts with viruses of the JE serocomplex in serological assays (Calisher et al., 1989), and the non-arthropod-borne Modoc virus, which has been associated with a single case of aseptic meningitis in a child (Reeves, 1990). Many flaviviruses, including dengue viruses (DEN), yellow fever virus (YF) and members of the JE and TBE serocomplexes cause encephalitis in laboratory rodents (mice and hamsters) after peripheral or intracerebral inoculation and provide an excellent model of arbovirus-mediated encephalitis in humans (Monath, 1986). Significant advances have been made recently in understanding the molecular biology and biochemistry of flavivirus replication (see Chambers et al., 1990; Rice, 1996), the antigenic structure and function of flavivirus proteins (see Heinz & Roehrig, 1990; Monath & Heinz, 1996), and in the molecular genetics of virulence and the pathogenesis of encephalitis (see Monath & Heinz, 1996). The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the current literature on the molecular genetics of flavivirus encephalitis and to demonstrate the emergence of common themes in the molecular pathogenesis of encephalitis caused by the neuro-tropic arboviruses.
ISSN:0022-1317
1465-2099
DOI:10.1099/0022-1317-78-11-2711