Genetic basis of attenuation of Dengue virus type 4 small plaque mutants with restricted replication in suckling mice and in SCID mice transplanted with human liver cells

Mutations that restrict replication of dengue virus have been sought for the generation of recombinant live-attenuated dengue virus vaccines. Dengue virus type 4 (DEN4) was previously grown in Vero cells in the presence of 5-fluorouracil, and the characterization of 1248 mutagenized, Vero cell passaged clones identified 20 temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant viruses that were attenuated (att) in suckling mouse brain (J. E. Blaney, Jr., D. H. Johnson, C. Y Firestone, C. T Hanson, B. R. Murphy, and S. S. Whitehead, 2001, J. Virol. 75(20), 9731-9740). The present investigation has extended these studies by identifying an additional 22 DEN4 mutant viruses which have a small plaque size (sp) phenotype in Vero cells and/or the liver cell line, HuH-7. Five mutant viruses have a so phenotype in both Vero and HuH-7 cells, three of which are also ts. Seventeen mutant viruses have a sp phenotype in only HuH-7 cells, 13 of which are also ts. Each of the sp viruses was growth restricted in the suckling mouse brain, exhibiting a wide range of reduction in replication (9- to 100,000-fold). Complete nucleotide sequence was determined for the 22 DEN4 sp mutant viruses, and nucleotide substitutions were found in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) as well as in all coding regions except NS4A. Identical mutations have been identified in multiple virus clones, suggesting that they may be involved in the adaptation of DEN4 virus to efficient growth in Vero cells. Six of the 22 sp 5-FU mutant viruses lacked coding mutations in the structural genes, and 17 recombinant DEN4 viruses were generated which separately encoded each of the mutations observed in these six sp viruses. Analysis of the recombinant DEN4 viruses defined the genetic basis of the sp, ts, and att phenotypes observed in the six sp viruses. Mutations in NS1, NS3, and the 3'-UTR were found to confer a greater than 100-fold, 10,000-fold, and 1000-fold reduction in replication of rDEN4 virus in SCID mice transplanted with HuH-7 cells, respectively, which serves as a novel small animal model for DEN4 infection.