Utilization of an Eilat Virus-Based Chimera for Serological Detection of Chikungunya Infection.
In December of 2013, chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an alphavirus in the family Togaviridae, was introduced to the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean, resulting in the first autochthonous cases reported in the Americas. As of January 2015, local and imported CHIKV has been reported in 50 American countries with over 1.1 million suspected cases. CHIKV causes a severe arthralgic disease for which there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics. Furthermore, the lack of a commercially available, sensitive, and affordable diagnostic assay limits surveillance and control efforts. To address this issue, we utilized an insect-specific alphavirus, Eilat virus (EILV), to develop a diagnostic antigen that does not require biosafety containment facilities to produce. We demonstrated that EILV/CHIKV replicates to high titers in insect cells and can be applied directly in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays without inactivation, resulting in highly sensitive detection of recent and past CHIKV infection, and outperforming traditional antigen preparations.
Institute for Translational Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America; Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America.
Jesse H
JH
Erasmus
InBios International, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
James
J
Needham
InBios International, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Syamal
S
Raychaudhuri
Departments of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology, Pathology & Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
Michael S
MS
Diamond
Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America; Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, and Sealy Center for Vaccine Development, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America.
David W C
DW
Beasley
InBios International, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Stan
S
Morkowski
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America; Pasteur Institute, Paris, France.
Henrik
H
Salje
Centro Regional de Investigación en Salud Publica INSP. Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.
Ildefonso
I
Fernandez Salas
Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Dal Young
DY
Kim
Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Ilya
I
Frolov
Institute for Translational Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America; Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America; Virology Division, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America.
Farooq
F
Nasar
Institute for Translational Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America; Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America; Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America.
Scott C
SC
Weaver
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D002460:Cell Line; D065632:Chikungunya Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007304:Insect Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D051379:Mice; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins