Rieder Martina, Finke Stefan, Conzelmann Karl-Klaus
Max von Pettenkofer Institute and Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany.
Berl Munch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 2012 May-Jun;125(5-6):209-18.
Rabies is a zoonosis still claiming more than 50 000 human deaths per year. Typically, human cases are due to infection with rabies virus, the prototype of the Lyssavirus genus, but sporadic cases of rabies-like encephalitis caused by other lyssaviruses have been reported. In contrast to rabies virus, which has an extremely broad host range including many terrestrial warm-blooded animals, rabies-related viruses are associated predominantly with bats and rarely infect terrestrial species. In spite of a very close genetic relationship of rabies and rabies-related viruses, the factors determining the limited host range of rabies-related viruses are not clear. In the past years the importance of viral countermeasures against the host type I interferon system for establishment of an infection became evident. The rabies virus phosphoprotein (P) has emerged as a critical factor required for paralysing the signalling cascades leading to transcriptional activation of interferon genes as well as interferon signalling pathways, thereby limiting expression of antiviral and immune stimulatory genes. Comparative studies would be of interest in order to determine whether differential abilities of the lyssavirus P proteins contribute to the restricted host range of lyssaviruses.
狂犬病是一种人畜共患病，每年仍导致超过5万人死亡。通常，人类病例是由狂犬病病毒感染引起的，狂犬病病毒是狂犬病毒属的原型，但也有报告称其他狂犬病毒会引发散发性狂犬病样脑炎病例。与狂犬病病毒具有极广泛的宿主范围（包括许多陆生温血动物）不同，狂犬病相关病毒主要与蝙蝠有关，很少感染陆生物种。尽管狂犬病病毒与狂犬病相关病毒在基因上关系极为密切，但决定狂犬病相关病毒宿主范围有限的因素尚不清楚。在过去几年中，病毒对抗宿主I型干扰素系统以建立感染的对策的重要性变得明显。狂犬病病毒磷蛋白（P）已成为一个关键因素，它能使导致干扰素基因转录激活的信号级联以及干扰素信号通路瘫痪，从而限制抗病毒和免疫刺激基因的表达。进行比较研究将有助于确定狂犬病毒P蛋白的不同能力是否导致了狂犬病毒宿主范围受限。
