Usutu virus, Luxembourg
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJEB47565 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Similar Datasets
Project description:Co-Infection: Simultaneous Detection of West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus in Birds from Germany
| PRJEB41417 | ENA
Project description:Ongoing genomic monitoring of Usutu virus in the Netherlands since 2016
| PRJEB83966 | ENA
Project description:Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus closely related to West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses. Despite its increasing prevalence in Europe and reports of neuroinvasive disease in humans, the molecular and immunological determinants of USUV infection remain poorly understood, largely due to the absence of tractable experimental tools. Here, we report the generation and characterization of the first full-length fluorescent reporter USUV expressing the red fluorescent protein mScarlet. Using a previously established infectious clone of the Vienna 2001 strain, we inserted the mScarlet gene into a permissive region of the viral genome, generating a stable and replication-competent reporter virus. USUV-mScarlet exhibited replication kinetics comparable to wild-type virus and maintained fluorescence over at least ten serial passages in human hepatoma (Huh7) cells. Application of this system identified interferon-alpha 2a (IFN-α2a) as a potent antiviral against USUV and revealed robust induction of the type I interferon response in infected and bystander mouse fibroblasts. In type I/III IFN signaling deficient (Ifnar-/- or Stat1-/-) mice, which are permissive for viral replication, USUV-mScarlet infection resulted in transient disease and reporter expression in multiple peripheral tissues. Among splenocytes, myeloid cells were highly enriched in reporter expression, suggesting their role as targets of viral infection. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that USUV-mScarlet faithfully recapitulates wild-type infection dynamics while enabling single-cell/quantitative visualization and sorting of infected cells to assess viral spread and host responses. This reporter platform provides a versatile tool for studying USUV biology and pathogenesis and will facilitate the development of targeted antivirals and vaccines against this emerging flavivirus.
2026-09-28 | GSE312631 | GEO
Project description:Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus closely related to West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses. Despite its increasing prevalence in Europe and reports of neuroinvasive disease in humans, the molecular and immunological determinants of USUV infection remain poorly understood, largely due to the absence of tractable experimental tools. Here, we report the generation and characterization of the first full-length fluorescent reporter USUV expressing the red fluorescent protein mScarlet. Using a previously established infectious clone of the Vienna 2001 strain, we inserted the mScarlet gene into a permissive region of the viral genome, generating a stable and replication-competent reporter virus. USUV-mScarlet exhibited replication kinetics comparable to wild-type virus and maintained fluorescence over at least ten serial passages in human hepatoma (Huh7) cells. Application of this system identified interferon-alpha 2a (IFN-α2a) as a potent antiviral against USUV and revealed robust induction of the type I interferon response in infected and bystander mouse fibroblasts. In type I/III IFN signaling deficient (Ifnar-/- or Stat1-/-) mice, which are permissive for viral replication, USUV-mScarlet infection resulted in transient disease and reporter expression in multiple peripheral tissues. Among splenocytes, myeloid cells were highly enriched in reporter expression, suggesting their role as targets of viral infection. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that USUV-mScarlet faithfully recapitulates wild-type infection dynamics while enabling single-cell/quantitative visualization and sorting of infected cells to assess viral spread and host responses. This reporter platform provides a versatile tool for studying USUV biology and pathogenesis and will facilitate the development of targeted antivirals and vaccines against this emerging flavivirus.
2026-09-28 | GSE312629 | GEO
Project description:Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus closely related to West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses. Despite its increasing prevalence in Europe and reports of neuroinvasive disease in humans, the molecular and immunological determinants of USUV infection remain poorly understood, largely due to the absence of tractable experimental tools. Here, we report the generation and characterization of the first full-length fluorescent reporter USUV expressing the red fluorescent protein mScarlet. Using a previously established infectious clone of the Vienna 2001 strain, we inserted the mScarlet gene into a permissive region of the viral genome, generating a stable and replication-competent reporter virus. USUV-mScarlet exhibited replication kinetics comparable to wild-type virus and maintained fluorescence over at least ten serial passages in human hepatoma (Huh7) cells. Application of this system identified interferon-alpha 2a (IFN-α2a) as a potent antiviral against USUV and revealed robust induction of the type I interferon response in infected and bystander mouse fibroblasts. In type I/III IFN signaling deficient (Ifnar-/- or Stat1-/-) mice, which are permissive for viral replication, USUV-mScarlet infection resulted in transient disease and reporter expression in multiple peripheral tissues. Among splenocytes, myeloid cells were highly enriched in reporter expression, suggesting their role as targets of viral infection. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that USUV-mScarlet faithfully recapitulates wild-type infection dynamics while enabling single-cell/quantitative visualization and sorting of infected cells to assess viral spread and host responses. This reporter platform provides a versatile tool for studying USUV biology and pathogenesis and will facilitate the development of targeted antivirals and vaccines against this emerging flavivirus.
2026-09-28 | GSE312632 | GEO
Project description:A versatile fluorescent reporter for Usutu virus drug screening and infection tracking
| PRJNA1375546 | ENA
Project description:Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging orthoflavivirus, which mainly affects birds but in rare cases can cause severe neuroinvasive disease in humans. Due to the limited size of the orthoflavivirus genome the virus relies on the host machinery for replication. In addition, it must subvert the host antiviral response for successful replication in the cell. Studying this complex network of virus-host protein interactions by proteomics approaches can provide us new insights in the replication cycle of viruses and can help us better understand the viral pathogenesis. We have previously shown that the USUV protein NS4A acts as an antagonist of the interferon response, and here we further map the host interaction partners of USUV NS4A using proximity labeling coupled to mass spectrometry. The resulting NS4A interactome revealed many host proteins involved in the autophagy pathway. We showed that both USUV infection and overexpression of USUV NS4A can induce the autophagy pathway. However, stimulation or inhibition of the autophagy pathway did not affect USUV replication in general. Therefore, we decided to look specifically at the role of the selective autophagy receptor sequestosome 1 (p62/SQSTM1), which was identified as an interaction partner of USUV NS4A. We found that p62 is involved in the degradation of USUV NS4A. Furthermore, the knockdown of p62 enhanced replication of USUV in A549 cells, which means p62 functions to restrict USUV replication. In conclusion, this study showed that USUV NS4A induced autophagy and was then targeted by p62 for degradation by the autophagic machinery, uncovering a new role of p62 in the antiviral defense against USUV.
2025-05-07 | PXD057492 | Pride
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC2168571 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC3163883 | biostudies-literature