Assessing the Efficacy of Small Molecule Inhibitors in aMouse Model of Persistent Norovirus Infection

Jana Van Dycke; Johan Neyts; Joana Rocha-Pereira

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.2831

Assessing the Efficacy of Small Molecule Inhibitors in aMouse Model of Persistent Norovirus Infection

Bio Protoc. 2018 May 5;8(9):e2831. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2831.

Authors

Jana Van Dycke¹, Johan Neyts¹, Joana Rocha-Pereira¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

Human norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide, resulting in estimated mortality of ~210,000 each year, of whom most are children under the age of five. However, norovirus can infect people of all age groups. There is a risk of prolonged infection in children, the elderly and patients who are immunocompromised. To study the inhibition of persistent norovirus replication by small molecule antivirals in vivo, we used a murine norovirus CR6 strain (MNV.CR6). We demonstrated earlier that efficient small molecules can reduce viral shedding in the stool of infected mice. Here we present how to generate the MNV.CR6 virus stock, infect type I and II interferon receptor knockout AG129 mice via oral gavage, administer antivirals to mice, and quantify viral genome copies in the stool of these mice.

Keywords: Antiviral; Murine norovirus; Oral gavage; Persistent infection; RT-qPCR.