A tool of the trade for a newly identified filovirus: pseudovirus-based system for Dehong virus entry and neutralization.

Abstract

Pseudovirus-based assays are efficient and accessible platforms for measuring neutralizing antibody titers and screening antiviral drugs against enveloped viruses. They typically employ two types of packaging systems, retroviral-based or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)-based systems. These systems have been validated for several high-risk pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, Dengue and, more recently, SARS-CoV-2, as they offer a safe alternative for studying high-containment viruses. In a recent study (Wu X, Liu F, Li T, Li D, Shen Y, Zhang X, Liu S, Jiang Q, Zhao C, Nie J, Wang Y, Feng B, Liu W, Huang W, Microbiol Spectr, 13:e01557-24, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01557-24), Wu and colleagues developed a pseudovirus system and optimized it for neutralization assays targeting the newly identified Dehong virus (DEHV). The authors also utilized this system to detect bioluminescent signals in mouse models. Importantly, using this pseudovirus platform, they confirmed that Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) functions as the entry receptor for DEHV, consistent with prior findings using infectious viruses. This work provides valuable insights into the limited understanding of DEHV biology.