High-throughput viral microneutralization method for feline coronavirus using image cytometry.

High-throughput viral microneutralization method for feline coronavirus using image cytometry. J Virol Methods. 2020 Sep 23;:113979 Authors: Pearson M, LaVoy A, Chan LL, Dean GA Abstract Feline coronaviruses (FCoV) are members of the alphacoronavirus genus that are further characterized by serotype (types I and II) based on the antigenicity of the spike (S) protein and by pathotype based on the associated clinical conditions. Feline enteric coronaviruses (FECV) are associated with the vast majority of infections and are typically asymptomatic. Within individual animals, FECV can mutate and cause a severe and usually fatal disease called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), the leading infectious cause of death in domestic cat populations. There are no approved antiviral drugs or recommended vaccines to treat or prevent FCoV infection. The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) traditionally employed to assess immune responses and to screen therapeutic and vaccine candidates is time-consuming, low-throughput and typically requires 2 - 3 days for the formation and manual counting of cytolytic plaques. Host cells are capable of carrying heavy viral burden in the absence of visible cytolytic effects, thereby reducing the sensitivity of the assay. In addition, operator-to-operator variation can generate uncertainty in the results and digital records are not automatically created. To address these challenges we developed a novel high-...
Source: Journal of Virological Methods - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: J Virol Methods Source Type: research