A decade of sustained selection pressure on two surface sites of the VP1 protein of Enterovirus A71 suggests that immune evasion may be an indirect driver for virulence

• Main Authors: Roberts, Ryan, Yee, Isabel Pin Tsin *, Mujawar, Shama *, Lahiri, Chandrajit *, Poh, Chit Laa *, Gatherer, Derek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Research 2019
• Subjects: QR355 Virology
• Online Access: http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1098/1/Poh%20CL_A%20decade%20of%20sustained%20selection%20pressure%20on%20two.pdf; http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1098/; http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41662-8
• Institution: Sunway University

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is an emerging pathogen in the Enterovirus A species group. EV-A71 causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), with virulent variants exhibiting polio-like acute faccid paralysis and other central nervous system manifestations. We analysed all enterovirus A71 complete genomes with collection dates from 2008 to mid-2018. All sub-genotypes exhibit a strong molecular clock with omega (dN/dS) suggesting strong purifying selection. In sub-genotypes B5 and C4, positive selection can be detected at two surface sites on the VP1 protein, also detected in positive selection studies performed prior to 2008. Toggling of a limited repertoire of amino acids at these positively selected residues over the last decade suggests that EV-A71 may be undergoing a sustained frequencydependent selection process for immune evasion, raising issues for vaccine development. These same sites have also been previously implicated in virus-host binding and strain-associated severity of HFMD, suggesting that immune evasion may be an indirect driver for virulence (154 words).