The goal of the supported 3-year project is to develop and utilize novel reporter Nipah viruses to refine human tissue and small animal models of Nipah virus pathogenesis in BSL-4 containment as tools to improve knowledge of disease pathogenesis, and to advance antiviral therapeutic screening efforts. Primary deliverables include the establishment and characterization of physiologically relevant 2D and 3D human tissue culture systems using primary and primary-like cells; and the identification of common reproducible biomarkers across human tissue and animal models for both respiratory and neurological disease associated with NiV infection. These models will serve as improved antiviral screening platforms for evaluating the efficacy of novel, direct-acting antivirals developed by other investigators within the PAD consortium portfolio. The project is hosted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at Atlanta, USA and the principal investigator is Michael Lo.
The picture above (provided by CDC) is visualization of recombinant Nipah-virus-infected/ZsGreen signal in hamster lungs. Image is adapted from Welch et al., https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz393