Anastazia Jablunovsky

Abstract Arthropod-borne, positive-sense RNA viruses encompass many human pathogens posing significant health threats worldwide. Understanding intracellular dynamics and host-factor interactions of the viral genome is essential for devising effective antiviral strategies. Here, we engineer dual-labeled Zika and chikungunya viruses incorporating a Mango-II aptamer for RNA pulldown and real-time imaging, achieving high-resolution imaging of flavivirus RNA in live cells.

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Fig 4. Effect of C N67A mutation on ZIKV assembly and replication. JEG-3 cells were transfected with full-length cDNA clones of WT ZIKVvenus (A, D) ZIKVvenus-CN67A (B, E) or C assembly negative control mutant K85A/K86A (ZIKVvenus-CK85A/K86A) (C, F). Permeabilized cells were probed with antibodies against C (red) and Golgi marker Giantin (magenta) to determine the localization of C protein to the Golgi apparatus (A-C) or anti-dsRNA antibody (magenta) to detect replicating viral RNA (D-F).