A menu of mutations was developed that is useful in fine-tuning the attenuation and growth characteristics of dengue virus vaccines.

The present disclosure is directed to antibodies binding to and neutralizing Zika virus and methods for use thereof.

The present invention provides compositions and methods of use comprising a chimeric dengue virus E glycoprotein comprising a dengue virus E glycoprotein backbone, which comprises amino acid substitutions that introduce an epitope that is recognized by an antibody from a dengue virus serotype that is different from the dengue virus serotype of the dengue virus E glycoprotein backbone.

A biosensor molecule comprises: a protease amino acid sequence; at least one sensor comprising at least one sensor amino acid sequence which is responsive to at least one target molecule; and an inhibitor of the protease activity of said protease amino acid sequence; wherein the biosensor is switchable from a protease active to a protease inactive state, or from a protease inactive to a protease active state when said sensor responds to said target molecule. The biosensor protease may be a protease of a virus such as a Potyvirus or a Flavivirus wherein the inhibitor is an autoinhibitory peptide derived from the virus. The biosensor may respond to the target molecule allosterically or may be cleaved by a target protease molecule.

Disclosed herein are immunoassay methods and reagents for detecting anti-Zika IgM antibody in a biological sample from a subject and/or diagnosing Zika virus infection in a subject. Also disclosed are algorithms for implementing the disclosed methods. The disclosed immunoassay methods, reagents, and algorithms enable efficient and reliable qualitative detection of anti-Zika virus antibodies and rapid determination of presumptive positive results for Zika virus infection in human subjects.

The present invention is within the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and Biotechnology fields. More specifically, the present invention describes a process for producing the recombinant fragment of the c-terminal region of the flavivirus NS1 non-structural soluble protein and the recombinant protein (Zv-ΔNS1) in large scale. The product of the invention has advantageous characteristics as a result of the process for obtaining the same, notably regarding folding and the immunological characteristics suitable for the development of serological tests to detect Zika virus. There are also described a purification process, its use and a method of detecting interaction, and a method of diagnosing diseases caused by a flavivirus.

Disclosed herein are recombinant baculoviruses suitable for detecting the presence of arthropod-borne viruses in a biological sample of a test subject. The information derived from the detection may also be used to render a diagnosis on whether the test subject is infected with the arthropod-borne viruses or not, so that proper course of treatment may be assigned to the subject.

A menu of mutations was developed that is useful in fine-tuning the attenuation and growth characteristics of dengue virus vaccines.

The present disclosure is directed to antibodies binding to and neutralizing Zika virus and methods for use thereof.

Disclosed herein are immunoassay methods and reagents for detecting anti-Zika IgM antibody in a biological sample from a subject and/or diagnosing Zika virus infection in a subject. Also disclosed are algorithms for implementing the disclosed methods. The disclosed immunoassay methods, reagents, and algorithms enable efficient and reliable qualitative detection of anti-Zika virus antibodies and rapid determination of presumptive positive results for Zika virus infection in human subjects.