| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Several arenaviruses are known to cause viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, where VHF is a major public health and medical concern. The biosafety level four categorization of these arenaviruses restricts their use and has impeded biological studies, including therapeutic drug and/or vaccine development. Due to difficulties associated with handling live viruses, pseudotype viruses, which transiently bear arenavirus envelope proteins based on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), have been developed as surrogate virus systems. In this study, we developed a pseudotype VSV bearing each envelope protein of various species of arenaviruses, including the newly identified Lujo virus (LUJV) and Chapare virus. We found that LUJpv utilizes neither αDG nor hTfR1 as receptor and unique characteristics of LUJV glycoprotein in membrane fusion and cell entry. Proper exclusion of cholesterol or some kinds of lipids may play important roles in the LUJpv cell entry.
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