US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Hideo Sumiyoshi

Charles H Hoke

cDNA clones containing the entire genome of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) were used to produce infectious, recombinant JEV particles with diverse virulence properties. Certain viruses retained the immunogenicity of JEV, but lacked the ability to cause encephalitis. The mutation associated with this loss of neurovirulence was localized to a nucleotide substitution in the codon encoding the 138th amino acid of the envelop protein, resulting in a mutation of an acidic amino acid to a basic amino acid. Attenuated viruses containing this mutation form the basis of a greatly improved, molecularly defined vaccine for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis in humans.

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Branford, CT, United States of America

Hideo Sumiyoshi