Romy Kerber

Dr. Romy Kerber


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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25 August 2022 in Viruses
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
LOLisa Oestereich
Lisa Oestereich
SWStephanie Angela Wurr
Stephanie Angela Wurr
BBBecker-Ziaja Becker-Ziaja Becker-Ziaja
Becker-Ziaja Becker-Ziaja Becker-Ziaja
SBSabrina Bockholt
Sabrina Bockholt
MPMeike Pahlmann
Meike Pahlmann
RKRomy Kerber
Romy Kerber
Highly pathogenic Arenaviruses, like the Lassa Virus (LASV), pose a serious public health threat in affected countries. Research and development of vaccines and therapeutics are urgently needed but hampered by the necessity to handle these pathogens under biosafety level 4 conditions. These containment restrictions make large-scale screens of antiviral compounds difficult. Therefore, the Mopeia virus (MOPV), closely related to LASV, is often used as an apathogenic surrogate virus. We established for the first time trisegmented MOPVs (r3MOPV) with duplicated S segments, in which one of the viral genes was replaced by the reporter genes ZsGreen (ZsG) or Renilla Luciferase (Rluc), respectively. In vitro characterization of the two trisegmented viruses (r3MOPV ZsG/Rluc and r3MOPV Rluc/ZsG), showed comparable growth behavior to the wild type virus and the expression of the reporter genes correlated well with viral titer. We used the reporter viruses in a proof-of-principle in vitro study to evaluate the antiviral activity of two well characterized drugs. IC50 values obtained by Rluc measurement were similar to those obtained by virus titers. ZsG expression was also suitable to evaluate antiviral effects. The trisegmented MOPVs described here provide a versatile and valuable basis for rapid high throughput screening of broadly reactive antiviral compounds against arenaviruses under BSL-2 conditions.