Influence of pr-M cleavage on the heterogeneity of extracellular dengue virus particles

• Main Authors: Junjhon J., Edwards T.J., Utaipat U., Bowman V.D., Holdaway H.A., Zhang W., Keelapang P., Puttikhunt C., Perera R., Chipman P.R., Kasinrerk W., Malasit P., Kuhn R.J., Sittisombut N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-77954972691&partnerID=40&md5=fa4517b9d33254b25831e268eaf768a6; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20519400; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/2555
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

During dengue virus replication, an incomplete cleavage of the envelope glycoprotein prM, generates a mixture of mature (prM-less) and prM-containing, immature extracellular particles. In this study, sequential immunoprecipitation and cryoelectron microscopy revealed a third type of extracellular particles, the partially mature particles, as the major prM-containing particles in a dengue serotype 2 virus. Changes in the proportion of viral particles in the pr-M junction mutants exhibiting altered levels of prM cleavage suggest that the partially mature particles may represent an intermediate subpopulation in the virus maturation pathway. These findings are consistent with a model suggesting the progressive mode of prM cleavage. Copyright © 2010, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.