Green fluorescent protein gene insertion of Sendai virus infection in nudemice: Possibility as an infection tracer

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker from jellyfish Aequorea victoria is considered to have potential use in the study of host-pathogen relation ships, by tracing infections in living cells, organs and animals. We compar ed the pathogenicity of Sendai virus with an inserted GFP gene (GFP-SeV wit h that of its wild-type (Wt-SeV) to determine the usefulness of the recombi nant virus in long-term infection of BALB/c nude (nu/nu) mice. The results indicated that the presence of GFP in infected cells could be analyzed easi ly and sensitively. GFP helped in identifying and in understanding the cell ular sites of viral replication in vitro and in vivo. However, the GFP inse rtion into the Wt-SeV genome, led to decreased pathogenicity, altering the in vivo viral kinetics.