Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged mouse hepatitis coronavirus nonstructural protein 4 (nsp4) was shown to localize to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and to be recruited to the coronavirus replicative structures. Fluorescence loss in photobleaching and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments demonstrated that while the membranes of the ER are continuous with those harboring t...

The NSP4 protein is a multifunctional protein that plays a role in the morphogenesis and pathogenesis of the rotavirus. Although NSP4 is considered an enterotoxin, the relationship between gastroenteritis severity and amino acid variations in NSP4 of the human rotavirus remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the sequence diversity of NSP4 and the severity of gastroenteritis of children wit...

Homologous disruption of the murine gene encoding the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) leads to the loss of cAMP-mediated ion transport. Mice carrying this gene defect exhibit meconium ileus at birth and gastrointestinal plugging during the neonatal period, both contributing to high rates of mortality. We investigated whether infectious mammalian rotavirus, the re...

The outer shell of the rotavirus triple-layered virion is lost during cell entry, yielding a double-layered particle (DLP) that directs synthesis of viral plus-strand RNAs. The plus-strand RNAs act as templates for synthesis of the segmented double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genome in viral inclusion bodies (viroplasms). The viral endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident glycoprotein NSP4 recruits progeny...

The rotavirus nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4), is a multi functional protein that play key role in both viral morphogenesis and cytopathic effect associated with cell death. However, the complete biological effect of NSP4 remains to be clarified. Since to obtain further knowledge about this protein there is a need for recognizing antibody and there is no commercial antibody against this protein,...

Coronavirus replicase polyproteins are translated from the genomic positive-strand RNA and are proteolytically processed by three viral proteases to yield 16 mature nonstructural proteins (nsp1 to nsp16). nsp4 contains four predicted transmembrane-spanning regions (TM1, -2, -3, and -4), demonstrates characteristics of an integral membrane protein, and is thought to be essential for the formatio...

The rotavirus nonstructural glycoprotein, NSP4, has been identified as the first viral enterotoxin capable of inducing diarrhea. To investigate the biological function of NSP4 in the inflammatory process, a cDNA from human rotavirus (Wa strain) RNA segment 10 was amplified by RT-PCR, cloned into TA vector, and subsequently subcloned into pET23b expression plasmid. The expression of NSP4 protein...

During the maturation of rotaviral particles, non-structural protein 4 (NSP4) plays a critical role in the translocation of the immature capsid into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. Full-length NSP4 and a 22 amino acid peptide (NSP4(114-135)) derived from this protein have been shown to induce diarrhea in young mice in an age-dependent manner, and may therefore be the agent responsible f...

The coronavirus nonstructural proteins (nsp's) derived from the replicase polyproteins collectively constitute the viral replication complexes, which are anchored to double-membrane vesicles. Little is known about the biogenesis of these complexes, the membrane anchoring of which is probably mediated by nsp3, nsp4, and nsp6, as they contain several putative transmembrane domains. As a first ste...