• Fay, Elizabeth J.
• Aron, Stephanie L.
• Waring, Barbara M.
• Plemper, Richard K.
• Langlois, Ryan A.
• Stone, Ian

Abstract

<jats:p>Influenza A virus (IAV) causes significant morbidity and mortality annually worldwide, despite the availability of new formulations of the vaccine each season. There is a critical need to develop more-efficacious vaccines. However, testing novel vaccines in the human population in controlled studies is difficult due to the limited availability and efficacy of intervention strategies should the vaccine fail. There are also significant safety concerns for work with highly pathogenic IAV strains in the laboratory. Therefore, novel strategies are needed to improve the safety of vaccine studies and of research on highly pathogenic IAV. In this study, we developed an IAV strain engineered to contain a small-molecule-mediated safety switch. This tag, when attached to an essential viral protein, allows for the regulation of IAV replication<jats:italic>in vitro</jats:italic>and<jats:italic>in vivo</jats:italic>. This strategy provides a platform for the regulation of virus replication without targeting viral proteins directly.</jats:p>

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy