학술논문

Viridot: An automated virus plaque (immunofocus) counter for the measurement of serological neutralizing responses with application to dengue virus.
Document Type
article
Source
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 12(10)
Subject
Antibodies
Neutralizing
Antibodies
Viral
Automation
Laboratory
Dengue Virus
Humans
Neutralization Tests
Viral Plaque Assay
Zika Virus
Language
Abstract
The gold-standard method for quantifying neutralizing antibody responses to many viruses, including dengue virus (DENV), is the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT, also called the immunofocus reduction neutralization test). The PRNT conducted on 96-well plates is high-throughput and requires a smaller volume of antiserum than on 6- or 24-well plates, but manual plaque counting is challenging and existing automated plaque counters are expensive or difficult to optimize. We have developed Viridot (Viridot package), a program for R with a user interface in shiny, that counts viral plaques of a variety of phenotypes, estimates neutralizing antibody titers, and performs other calculations of use to virologists. The Viridot plaque counter includes an automatic parameter identification mode (misses