Generation of a reporter yellow fever virus for high throughput antiviral assays



Sanchez-Velazquez, Ricardo, de Lorenzo, Giuditta, Tandavanitj, Rapeepat, Setthapramote, Chayanee, Bredenbeek, Peter J, Bozzacco, Leonia, MacDonald, Margaret R, Clark, Jordan J, Rice, Charles M, Patel, Arvind H
et al (show 2 more authors) (2020) Generation of a reporter yellow fever virus for high throughput antiviral assays. ANTIVIRAL RESEARCH, 183. 104939-.

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Abstract

Yellow fever virus (YFV), a member of the Flaviviridae family, is an arthropod-borne virus that can cause severe disease in humans with a lethality rate of up to 60%. Since 2017, increases in YFV activity in areas of South America and Africa have been described. Although a vaccine is available, named strain 17D (Theiler and Smith, 1937), it is contraindicated for use in the elderly, expectant mothers, immunocompromised people, among others. To this day there is no antiviral treatment against YFV to reduce the severity of viral infection. Here, we used a circular polymerase extension reaction (CPER)-based reverse genetics approach to generate a full-length reporter virus (YFVhb) by introducing a small HiBit tag in the NS1 protein. The reporter virus replicates at a similar rate to the parental YFV in HuH-7 cells. Using YFVhb, we designed a high throughput antiviral screening luciferase-based assay to identify inhibitors that target any step of the viral replication cycle. We validated our assay by using a range of inhibitors including drugs, immune sera and neutralizing single chain variable fragments (scFv). In light of the recent upsurge in YFV and a potential spread of the virus, this assay is a further tool in the development of antiviral therapy against YFV.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Yellow fever virus, HiBiT, Luciferase, Drug screen, CPER
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 25 May 2021 09:18
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 22:45
DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2020.104939
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2020.104939
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3123966