MOLECULAR DETERMINANTS OF THEILERS MURINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS-INDUCED DISEASE

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) strains are divided in to two subgroups on the basis of their differing disease phenotypes. M embers of the GDVII subgroup, such as GDVII strain, produce an acute l ethal polioencephalomyelitis. In contrast, members of the TO subgroup, such as DA strain, induce a persistent infection with chronic demyeli nation; this white matter disease serves as an experimental model of m ultiple sclerosis (MS) due to their similar pathology and because the immune system in both diseases appears to contribute to the demyelinat ion. The availability of full-length infectious TMEV clones, the relat ive simplicity of the TMEV genome, and the availability of the mouse a s a host provide the opportunity to identify molecular determinants an d disease mechanisms that are responsible for neurovirulence, demyelin ation and virus persistence, and makes this a valuable system for path ogenesis studies.