Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA; College of Animal Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
EBioMedicine. 2016 Oct;12:156-160. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.09.013. Epub 2016 Sep 14.
The current epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV) has underscored the urgency to establish experimental systems for studying viral replication and pathogenesis, and countermeasure development. Here we report two ZIKV replicon systems: a luciferase replicon that can differentiate between viral translation and RNA synthesis; and a stable luciferase replicon carrying cell line that can be used to screen and characterize inhibitors of viral replication. The transient replicon was used to evaluate the effect of an NS5 polymerase mutation on viral RNA synthesis and to analyze a known ZIKV inhibitor. The replicon cell line was developed into a 96-well format for antiviral testing. Compare with virus infection-based assay, the replicon cell line allows antiviral screening without using infectious virus. Collectively, the replicon systems have provided critical tools for both basic and translational research.
寨卡病毒（ZIKV）的当前流行情况凸显了建立实验系统以研究病毒复制和发病机制以及对策开发的紧迫性。在这里，我们报告了两种寨卡病毒复制子系统：一种能够区分病毒翻译和 RNA 合成的荧光素酶复制子；以及一种带有稳定荧光素酶复制子的细胞系，可用于筛选和表征病毒复制抑制剂。瞬时复制子用于评估 NS5 聚合酶突变对病毒 RNA 合成的影响，并分析已知的寨卡病毒抑制剂。该复制子细胞系已开发为用于抗病毒测试的 96 孔格式。与基于病毒感染的测定相比，复制子细胞系允许在不使用感染性病毒的情况下进行抗病毒筛选。总之，复制子系统为基础和转化研究提供了重要工具。
