Engineering a Reliable and Convenient SARS-CoV-2 Replicon System for Analysis of Viral RNA Synthesis and Screening of Antiviral Inhibitors.

ABSTRACT: The etiologic agent of COVID-19 is highly contagious and has caused a severe global pandemic. Until now, there has been no simple and reliable system available in a lower-biosafety-grade laboratory for SARS-CoV-2 virologic research and inhibitor screening. In this study, we reported a replicon system which consists of four plasmids expressing the required segments of SARS-CoV-2. Our study revealed that the features for viral RNA synthesis and responses to antivirus drugs of the replicon are similar to those of wild-type viruses. Further analysis indicated that ORF6 provided potent in trans stimulation of the viral replication. Some viral variations, such as 5'UTR-C241T and ORF8-(T28144C) L84S mutation, also exhibit their different impact upon viral replication. Besides, the screenin

SUBMITTER: Luo Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7845634 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature