Development of a neutralization assay using a vesicular stomatitis virus expressing Nipah virus glycoprotein and a fluorescent protein
Shilpi Jain, Michael K. Lo, Markus H. Kainulainen, Stephen R. Welch, Jessica R. Spengler, Syed Moinuddin Satter, Mohammed Ziaur Rahman, Mohammad Enayet Hossain, Cheng‐Feng Chiang, John D. Klena, Éric Bergeron, Joel M. Montgomery, Christina F. Spiropoulou, César G. Albariño
Abstract
Nipah virus (NiV) is a highly pathogenic paramyxovirus with a high case fatality rate. Due to its high pathogenicity, pandemic potential, and lack of therapeutics or approved vaccines, its study requires biosafety level 4 (BSL4) containment. In this report, we developed a novel neutralization assay for use in biosafety level 2 laboratories. The assay uses a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing NiV glycoprotein and a fluorescent protein. The recombinant virus propagates as a replication-competent virus in a cell line constitutively expressing NiV fusion protein, but it is restricted to a single round of replication in wild-type cells. We used this system to evaluate the neutralization activity of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, plasma from NiV-infected hamsters, and serum from human patients. Therefore, this recombinant virus could be used as a surrogate for using pathogenic NiV and may constitute a powerful tool to develop therapeutics in low containment laboratories.