Résumé de : DJAVANI (M), LUKASHEVICH (IS), SANCHEZ (A), NICHOL (ST) & SALVATO (MS) - 1997 - Completion of the Lassa fever virus sequence and identification of a ring finger open reading frame at the L RNA 5' end. Virology, 1997 Sep 1; 235 (2): pp. 414-418.


Lassa (LAS) fever virus is a highly pathogenic arenavirus with large (L) and small (S) RNA genomic segments. The 5' end of the LAS L segment is described here, thereby completing the sequence of the most virulent arenavirus analyzed to date. In keeping with the ambisense gene structure of the arenaviruses, the LAS L RNA encodes a 250-kDa protein and an 11-kDa protein in opposite senses with respect to each other. The 11-kDa protein, defined previously in arenaviruses lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM), Tacaribe (TAC), and Pichinde (PIG), contains a RING type of zinc-binding structure. Expression of the 11-kDa protein in LAS virus-infected cells has been confirmed by binding to peptide-specific antibody. (C) 1997 Academic Press.