Development of antibody-based assays for high throughput discovery and mechanistic study of antiviral agents against yellow fever virus.

Development of antibody-based assays for high throughput discovery and mechanistic study of antiviral agents against yellow fever virus. Antiviral Res. 2020 Aug 13;:104907 Authors: Gao Z, Zhang L, Ma J, Jurado A, Hong SH, Guo JT, Rice CM, MacDonald MR, Chang J Abstract Despite the availability of a highly effective yellow fever virus (YFV) vaccine, outbreaks of yellow fever frequently occur in Africa and South America with significant mortality, highlighting the pressing need for antiviral drugs to manage future outbreaks. To support the discovery and development of antiviral drugs against YFV, we characterized a panel of rabbit polyclonal antibodies against the three YFV structural proteins and five non-structural proteins and demonstrated these antibody reagents in conjunction with viral RNA metabolic labeling, double-stranded RNA staining and membrane floatation assays as powerful tools for investigating YFV polyprotein processing, replication complex formation, viral RNA synthesis and high throughput discovery of antiviral drugs. Specifically, the proteolytic processing of the viral polyprotein can be analyzed by Western blot assays. The predominant nuclear localization of NS5 protein as well as the relationship between intracellular viral non-structural protein distribution and foci of YFV RNA replication can be revealed by immunofluorescence staining and membrane flotation assays. Using an antibody against YFV NS4B protein as a...
Source: Antiviral Research - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Antiviral Res Source Type: research