Dengue replicons are powerful tools used in studying virus biology as well as in high-throughput screening of drug candidates. Replicon constructs are developed as genomic (consists of all the viral protein genes) or sub-genomic (consists of only nonstructural protein genes) and are used to study various aspects of the virus life cycle such as genome replication and virus assembly. In addition, a replicon usually includes a reporter gene used in monitoring virus replication. In this chapter, we provide methods to develop both genomic and sub-genomic dengue replicons with a luciferase reporter and describe different assays to utilize these systems.
Keywords: Dengue replicon; Dengue virus serotype 2; Genomic replicon; Infectious dengue; Luciferase assay; Luciferase reporter; Plaque assay; Reporter virus; Sub-genomic replicon; Virus titer.
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