Chimeric Reporter West Nile/Dengue Viruses and Their Use for Assay Development
CDC researchers have engineered West Nile/dengue virus (WN/DENV) chimeras utilizing the replicative ability of the West Nile (WN) virus but presenting the immunogenic pre-membrane and envelope surface proteins of each of the four dengue virus serotypes (DENV 1-4). When coupled with a fluorescent reporter gene, each chimera is able to generate live chimeric reporter WN/DENV (R-WN/DENV) expressing the fluorescent protein in infected cells. These chimeric reporter viruses (CRVs) are used to develop faster and less hands-on high throughput neutralization assays for DENV.