Stable Cell Clones Harboring Self-Replicating SARS-CoV-2 RNAs for Drug Screen
Shufeng Liu, Chao‐Kai Chou, Wells W. Wu, Binquan Luan, Tony T. Wang
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 replicon systems that have been reported up to date were unsuccessful in deriving stable cell lines harboring non-cytopathic replicons. The transient expression of viral sgmRNA or a reporter gene makes it impractical for industry-scale screening of large compound libraries using these systems. Here, for the first time, we derived stable cell clones harboring the SARS-CoV-2 replicon. These clones may now be conveniently cultured in a standard BSL-2 laboratory for high throughput screen of compound libraries. Additionally, our stable replicon cells represent a new model system to study SARS-CoV-2 replication.
Topics & Concepts
RepliconBiologyViral replicationVirologyCell cultureHEK 293 cellsCoronavirusComputational biologyGeneticsGenePlasmidCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)PathologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseaseMedicineSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchCRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBacteriophages and microbial interactions