Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Proline Insertion-Deletion In The Spike Glycoprotein Fusion Peptide Of Mouse Hepatitis Virus Strongly Alters Neuropathology., Manmeet Singh, Abhinoy Kishore, Dibyajyoti Maity, Punnepalli Sunanda, Bankala Krishnarjuna, Sreeparna Vappala, Srinivasarao Raghothama, Lawrence C. Kenyon, Debnath Pal, Jayasri Das Sarma

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Fusion peptides (FPs) in spike proteins are key players mediating early events in cell-to-cell fusion, vital for intercellular viral spread. A proline residue located at the central FP region has often been suggested to have a distinctive role in this fusion event. The spike glycoprotein from strain RSA59 (PP) of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) contains two central, consecutive prolines in the FP. Here, we report that deletion of one of these proline residues, resulting in RSA59 (P), significantly affected neural cell syncytia formation and viral titers postinfection in vitro. Transcranial inoculation of C57Bl/6 mice with RSA59 (PP) or RSA59 (P) …