Extending the Cytoplasmic Tail of The Influenza A Virus M2 Protein Leads To Reduced Virus Replication In Vivo but not In Vitro

A carboxy terminal epitope tag introduced into the coding region of the A/WSN/33 M2 protein resulted in a recombinant virus (rWSN M2myc) which replicated to similar titers as the parental virus (rWSN) in MDCK cells. The rWSN M2myc virus was attenuated in its ability to induce mortality and weight loss after intranasal inoculation of Balb/c mice, indicating the M2 cytoplasmic tail plays a role in virus virulence. Mice infected with rWSN M2myc were completely protected from subsequent challenge with rWSN suggesting that epitope-tagging the M2 protein may be a useful way of attenuating influenza A virus strains.