Discovery of Yellow FeverVirus-Specific Epitopes for Development of an Accurate SerodiagnosticAssay Abstract Antibodiestomanypathogenicvirusescanbedetectedinblood,serumand/orsaliva.Amongthese aremanyarboviruses,thatshareendemicregionsinthewesternhemisphereandinotherpartsofthe world.Theseincludetherelatedflavivirusesyellowfevervirus(YFV),denguevirus(DENV),Zikavirus (ZIKV)andWestNilevirus(WNV)aswellasthealphaviruschikungunyavirus(CHIKV).Antibodiesto thesevirusesareoftencross-reactive,makingdiagnosticsforaparticularviruschallenging.Thecurrent outbreak of yellow fever in Brazil and the high mortality associated with this disease as well as the recent history of outbreaks in South America and Africa create an urgent need for YFV-specific serodiagnostics,toaidcontrolofthespreadofyellowfever.Moreover,suchdiagnosticswouldfacilitate clinical and public health efforts against these and other, related arboviruses. We propose a novel strategytodevelopmethodsforspecificandsensitivedetectionofantibodiesagainstYFVthatdonot crossreactwithotherarboviruses.Wewillemployaninnovative,comprehensiveproteomicapproach withauniqueserumsamplecollectionthatwillallowdiscoveryandvalidationofspecificbiomarkers capable of distinguishing YFV from other arboviruses. This will allow us to develop a specific and sensitivetestforYFVinfectioninPhaseIIofthisproject.Apractical,sensitiveandspecifictestforYFV infection is a high priority goal due to the recent outbreak of yellow fever in Brazil, possible future outbreaksandthelikelyspreadofyellowfevertosouthernUSstatesborderingtheGulfofMexicoand PuertoRicowhereAedesspp.mosquitosmightrapidlyspreadtheinfection.

Public Health Relevance

Discovery of Yellow FeverVirus-Specific Epitopes for Development of an Accurate SerodiagnosticAssay Abstract Thereisanurgentneedforaspecificdiagnostictestforyellowfevervirus,sinceyellowfeverisoften fatalandcouldspreadtotheUSAfromtherecentoutbreakinBrazil,asZikavirusdid.Suchatestis difficult to make due to cross-reactivity with other viruses. We propose a novel and comprehensive strategytodevelopaspecifictestforyellowfevervirustohelpblockthespreadofyellowfevertothe USAandPuertoRico.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase I (R43)
Project #
5R43AI136197-02
Application #
9625757
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Woodson, Sara Elaine
Project Start
2018-01-16
Project End
2020-12-31
Budget Start
2019-01-01
Budget End
2020-12-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Immport Therapeutics, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
159838106
City
Irvine
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92618