Bioluminescent Ross River Virus Allows Live Monitoring of Acute and Long-Term Alphaviral Infection by In Vivo Imaging.

ABSTRACT: Arboviruses like chikungunya and Ross River (RRV) are responsible for massive outbreaks of viral polyarthritis. There is no effective treatment or vaccine available against these viruses that induce prolonged and disabling arthritis. To explore the physiopathological mechanisms of alphaviral arthritis, we engineered a recombinant RRV expressing a NanoLuc reporter (RRV-NLuc), which exhibited high stability, near native replication kinetics and allowed real time monitoring of viral spread in an albino mouse strain. During the acute phase of the disease, we observed a high bioluminescent signal reflecting viral replication and dissemination in the infected mice. Using Bindarit, an anti-inflammatory drug that inhibits monocyte recruitment, we observed a reduction in viral dissemination demonst

SUBMITTER: Belarbi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6669695 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature