Construction and characterization of chimeric tick-borne encephalitis/dengue type 4 viruses

Dengue type 4 virus (DEN4) cDNA was used as a vector to express genes of the distantly related tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Full-length chimeric TBEV/DEN4 cDNAs were constructed by substituting TBEV genes coding for proteins such as capsid (C); pre-membrane, which is the precursor of membrane (M); envelope (E); or nonstructural protein NS1 for the corresponding DEN4 sequences. RNA transcripts prepared from cDNAs were used to transfect permissive simian cells. Two viable chimeric viruses that contained TBEV CME or ME genes were recovered. Compared with DEN4, chimeric TBE(ME)/DEN4 virus [designated vTBE(ME)/DEN4] produced larger plaques and grew to higher titer in simian cells. In contrast, vTBE(ME)/DEN4 produced smaller plaques on mosquito cells and grew to lower titer than DEN4. Analysis of viral RNA and proteins produced in vTBE(ME)/DEN4- and DEN4-infected mosquito or simian cells revealed that the chimera was restricted in its ability to enter and replicate in mosquito cells. In contrast, vTBE(ME)/DEN4 entered simian cells efficiently and its RNA was replicated more rapidly in these cells than was parental DEN4 RNA. Following intracerebral inoculation, vTBE(ME)/DEN4 caused fatal encephalitis in both suckling and adult mice, while nearly all mice inoculated by the same route with DEN4 did not develop disease. Unlike wild-type TBEV, vTBE(ME)/DEN4 did not cause encephalitis when adult mice were inoculated by a peripheral route. Adult mice previously inoculated with the chimera by a peripheral route were completely resistant to subsequent intraperitoneal challenge with 10(3) times the median lethal dose of TBEV, whereas mice previously inoculated with DEN4 were not protected. These findings indicate that (i) the TBEV M and E genes of the chimeric virus are major protective antigens and induce resistance to lethal TBEV challenge and (ii) other regions of the TBEV genome are essential for the ability of this virus to spread from a peripheral site to the brain. Success in constructing a viable TBEV/DEN4 chimera that retains the protective antigens of TBEV but lacks its peripheral invasiveness provides a strategy for the development of live attenuated TBEV vaccines.