Work

Development of Reverse Genetics for the Prototype New World Mammarenavirus Tacaribe Virus

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: To date, no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccines are available to combat hemorrhagic fever caused by mammarenavirus infections in humans. Treatment of mammarenavirus infections is limited to the off-label use of ribavirin, which is partially effective and associated with significant side effects. Tacaribe virus (TCRV), the prototype member of the New World mammarenaviruses, is nonpathogenic in humans but able to provide protection against Junín virus (JUNV), the causative agent of Argentine hemorrhagic fever, demonstrating the feasibility of using TCRV as a live-attenuated vaccine vector for the treatment of JUNV and potentially other viral infections. Here, we describe for the first time the feasibility of generating recombinant TCRV (rTCRV) using reverse genetics approaches, which paves the way to study the biology of TCRV and also its potential use as a live-attenuated vaccine or a vaccine vector for the treatment of mammarenavirus and/or other viral infections in humans.

Source: Journal of Virology

DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01014-20

Authors: Chengjin Ye, Juan Carlos de la Torre, Luis Martínez-Sobrido

Institutions: Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Scripps Research Institute

Language: English

Topic: Viral Infections and Vectors

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases