Development of a Single-Cycle Infectious SARS-CoV-2 Virus Replicon Particle System for Use in Biosafety Level 2 Laboratories
Johnny Malicoat, Senthamizharasi Manivasagam, Sonia Zuñiga, Isabel Sola, Dianne McCabe, Lijun Rong, Stanley Perlman, Luis Enjuanes, Balaji Manicassamy
Abstract
Due to the highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2 and the lack of immunity in the human population, research on SARS-CoV-2 has been restricted to biosafety level 3 laboratories. This has greatly limited participation of the broader scientific community in SARS-CoV-2 research and thus has hindered the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs. By deleting the essential spike gene in the viral genome, we have developed a conditional mutant of SARS-CoV-2 with luciferase and fluorescent reporters, which can be safely used under biosafety level 2 conditions. Our single-cycle infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus replicon system can serve as a versatile platform to study SARS-CoV-2 intracellular biology and to perform high-throughput screening of antiviral drugs under BSL2 containment.