A Convenient and Biosafe Replicon with Accessory Genes of SARS-CoV-2 and Its Potential Application in Antiviral Drug Discovery.

ABSTRACT: SARS-CoV-2 causes the pandemic of COVID-19 and no effective drugs for this disease are available thus far. Due to the high infectivity and pathogenicity of this virus, all studies on the live virus are strictly confined in the biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory but this would hinder the basic research and antiviral drug development of SARS-CoV-2 because the BSL3 facility is not commonly available and the work in the containment is costly and laborious. In this study, we constructed a reverse genetics system of SARS-CoV-2 by assembling the viral cDNA in a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vector with deletion of the spike (S) gene. Transfection of the cDNA into cells results in the production of an RNA replicon that keeps the capability of genome or subgenome replication but is deficie

SUBMITTER: Jin YY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8127439 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature