Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
2089287 Journal of Immunological Methods 2006 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

Respiratory enteric orphan virus (reovirus) has been used to study many aspects of the biology and genetics of viruses, viral infection, pathogenesis, and the immune response to virus infection. This report describes the functional activity of virus labeled with Alexa Fluor 488, a stable fluorescent dye. Matrix assisted laser desorption–time of flight analysis indicated that Alexa Fluor 488 labeled the outer capsid proteins of reovirus. Labeled virus bound to murine L929 fibroblasts as determined by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, and the specificity of binding were demonstrated by competitive inhibition with non-labeled virus. Labeled reovirus induced apoptosis and cytopathic effect in infected L929 cells. Mice infected with labeled virus mounted robust serum antibody and CD8+ T-cell responses, indicating that labeled virus retained immunogenicity in vivo. These results indicate that Alexa Fluor 488-labeled virus provides a powerful new tool to analyze reovirus infection in vitro and in vivo.

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