Abstract: The invention provides isolated nucleic acids encoding recombinant genomes or antigenomes of Human Parainfluenza Viruses that are useful as vaccines. The recombinant genomes or antigenomes can be incorporated into expression vectors for production of recombinant viruses in vitro. The invention also provides recombinant Human Parainfluenza viruses having one or more mutations that attenuate replication of the virus in a host.

Abstract: Chimeric human-bovine parainfluenza viruses (PIVs) are infectious and attenuated in humans and other mammals and useful individually or in combination in vaccine formulations for eliciting an immune response to PIV or other pathogens. Also provided are isolated polynucleotide molecules and vectors incorporating a chimeric PIV genome or antigenome which includes a partial or complete human or bovine PIV “background” genome or antigenome combined or integrated with one or more heterologous gene(s) or genome segment(s) of a different PIV. Chimeric human-bovine PIV of the invention include a partial or complete “background” PIV genome or antigenome derived from or patterned after a human or bovine PIV virus combined with one or more heterologous gene(s) or genome segment(s) of a different pathogen, including different PIV virus to form the human-bovine chimeric PIV genome or antigenome.

Abstract: Attenuated, recombinant negative stranded RNA viruses suitable for vaccine use are produced from one or more isolated polynucleotide molecules encoding the virus. A recombinant genome or antigenome of the subject virus is modified to encode a mutation within a recombinant protein of the virus at one or more amino acid positions(s) corresponding to a site of an attenuating mutation in a heretologous, mutant negative stranded RNA virus. A similar attenuating mutation as identified in the heterologous negative stranded RNA virus is thus incorporated at a corresponding site within the recombinant virus to confer an attenuated phenotype on the recombinant virus. The attenuating mutation incorporated in the recombinant virus may be identical or conservative in relation to the attenuating mutation identified in the heterologous, mutant virus.