Polymerase complex with lysine at position 627 of the PB2 of influenza virus A/Hong Kong/483/97 (H5N1) efficiently transcribes and replicates virus genes in mouse cells

Influenza virus A/Hong Kong/483/97 (H5N1) (HK483-K) has the PB2 with lysine at position 627 (PB2-627K) and is highly pathogenic in chickens and mice. On the other hand, the pathogenicity of mutant virus (HK483-E), which was generated by substituting lysine with glutamic acid at the position of the PB2, is lower than that of HK483-K in mice, but is highly pathogenic in chickens. The PB2 is one of the components of heterotrimeric polymerase complex, which plays roles in the transcription and replication of virus genes. Cell-free polymerase assay revealed that intrinsic transcription activity of the polymerase complex with PB2-627K is higher than that of glutamic acid (PB2-627E). In chicken cells, transcription efficiency of the polymerase complex with PB2-627E was not lower than those with PB2-627K, indicating that transcription of virus genes is modulated by some host factors in chicken cells, resulting in high growth. Polymerase complex with PB2-627K efficiently transcribes and replicates virus polymerase genes in mouse cells, leading to high growth of HK483-K compared with that of HK483-E. The results of our experiments clearly suggest that efficient transcription and replication of virus genes by polymerase complex result in the higher pathogenicity in mice.