Studies on neuropathogenesis of equine herpesviruses

• Project/Area Number: 24380165
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Applied veterinary science
• Research Institution: Gifu University
• Principal Investigator: FUKUSHI Hideto 岐阜大学, 応用生物科学部, 教授 (10156763)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OHYA Kenji 岐阜大学, 応用生物科学部, 准教授 (50402219)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MATSUMURA Tomio 日本中央競馬会競走馬総合研究所, 栃木支所, 室長 (20446511) ; TSUJIMURA Koji 日本中央競馬会競走馬総合研究所, 栃木支所, 室員 (50446514)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥15,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,540,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥4,810,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,110,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥4,680,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,080,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥5,850,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,350,000)
• Keywords: ウマヘルペスウイルス１型 / 神経病原性 / 網羅的転写解析 / ヘルペスウイルス / 転写解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to reveal the mechanism of neuropathogenicity of equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) at the molecular level. Comparing EHV-1 genomes of neuropathogenic and nonneuropathogenic strains, several open reading frames and amino acid substitution including ORF30 D752 neuropathogenic marker were identified. Particularly comparison of neuropathogenic strains possessing ORF30 N752 instead of D752 indicated several viral genes associated with neuropathogenicity of EHV-1. Transcription start site analyses on EHV-1 infected cells showed transcription from whole genome sequence at 8 hour post infection. These results indicated that virus transcription might be much complicated.