Award details

Targeted inhibition of Rift Valley Fever Virus

Reference	BBS/E/I/00001699
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Rennos Fragkoudis
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	The Pirbright Institute
Department	The Pirbright Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	898,274
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/03/2012
End date	28/02/2017
Duration	59 months

Abstract

Rift valley fever virus (RVFV), Bunyaviridae, is a zoonotic arbovirus that causes disease in ruminants and humans. Protection is afforded by vaccination however; current vaccines induce complications in livestock. Together with the outbreak potential, the lack of prophylaxis makes RVFV a serious public health concern. Innovative ways to create safe vaccines are needed that will induce lifelong immunity in the animal host and be non-transmissible by arthropod vectors. An upcoming field in antiviral research involves microRNAs (miRNA) which may inhibit viral replication in vitro or restrict cellular tropism for a variety of viruses. Within efforts to generate genetically modified RVFV vaccines, miRNA targets that are conserved within Aedes mosquito cell lines will be chosen for targeted inhibition of RVFV. Selection criteria for miRNAs include high copy number in each cell line and insect specificity. Constructs containing selected miRNA targets will be cloned into the SVF4 genome to establish the knockdown efficacy of virus replication in different cell lines. miRNA targets showing greatest efficacy will be cloned into the NSs region of the S-segment of RVFV, allowing for the characterization of recombinant RVFV in various mosquito and vertebrate cell lines and define the host range of these viruses in live mosquitoes.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Health, Immunology, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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