Abstract:

 Objective  To determine the potential putative fusion region on glycoprotein of the Hantavirus GM04-38.  Methods Site-directed mutagenesis was used to construct 10 GP gene mutants, which were then expressed in Vero E6 cells. IFA was performed to determine expression of GPs genes, and Giemsa staining was used to observe cell fusion activities.  Results  IFA showed that the GPs genes were successfully expressed, and the fluorescent signal was robust and concentrated in the perinuclear region of the transfected cells. But cell fusion activities were not found after mutation.   Conclusion   Mutation of 10 amino acids can obviously influence cell fusion activities, suggesting that it is possible that fusion peptide is in this region.

Key words: Hantavirus; Glycoprotein; Cell fusion; Fusion peptide