News: Scientists at the Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) have developed a novel method for generating non-infectious Nipah virus-like particles (VLPs) in the laboratory.
About the new method
- Developed “HiBiT-tagged” Nipah virus-like particles (NiV-VLPs) using plasmid-based expression systems encoding NiV structural proteins G, F, and M.
- Virus-like particles (VLPs) resemble viruses but are non-infectious as they contain no viral genetic material.
- NiV genome encodes six major proteins: glycoprotein (G), fusion protein (F), matrix (M), nucleocapsid (N), long polymerase (L), and phosphoprotein (P).
About Nipah virus:
- A zoonotic virus, highly pathogenic paramyxovirus with a fatality rate up to 80%.
- Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural hosts.
- Transmissible to humans from animals (bats or pigs), contaminated foods, and directly human-to-human.