Development of a competition assay to assess the in vitro fitness of dengue virus serotypes using an optimized serotype-specific qRT-PCR.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Comparing the in vitro fitness of dengue virus (DENV) isolates is a pivotal approach to assess the contribution of DENV strains' replicative fitness to epidemiological contexts, including serotype replacements. Competition assays are the gold standard to compare the in vitro replicative fitness of viral strains. Implementing competition assays between DENV serotypes requires an experimental setup and an appropriate read-out to quantify the viral progeny of strains belonging to different serotypes.

Methods

In the current study, we optimized an existing serotyping qRT-PCR by adapting primer/probe design and multiplexing the serotype-specific qRT-PCR reactions, allowing to accurately detect and quantify all four DENV serotypes. We next developed an in vitro competiti

SUBMITTER: Griffon AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12704846 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature