Infection counter: automated quantification of in vitro virus replication by fluorescence microscopy

Culley, S., Towers, G. J., Selwood, D. L., Henriques, R. and Grove, J. (2016) Infection counter: automated quantification of in vitro virus replication by fluorescence microscopy. Viruses, 8(7), 201. (doi: 10.3390/v8070201) (PMID:27455304) (PMCID:PMC4974536)

Abstract

The ability to accurately and reliably quantify viral infection is essential to basic and translational virology research. Here, we describe a simple and robust automated method for using fluorescence microscopy to estimate the proportion of virally infected cells in a monolayer. We provide details of the automated analysis workflow along with a freely available open-source ImageJ plugin, Infection Counter, for performing image quantification. Using hepatitis C virus (HCV) as an example, we have experimentally verified our method, demonstrating that it is equivalent, if not better, than the established focus-forming assay. Finally, we used Infection Counter to assess the anti-HCV activity of SMBz-CsA, a non-immunosuppressive cyclosporine analogue.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Joe Grove is supported by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly funded the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society (Grant Number 107653/Z/15/Z). Siân Culley and Ricardo Henriques are supported by grant MR/K015826/1 from the Medical Research Council and grant BB/M022374/1 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Grove, Dr Joe
• Authors: Culley, S., Towers, G. J., Selwood, D. L., Henriques, R., and Grove, J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: Viruses
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1999-4915
• ISSN (Online): 1999-4915
• Published Online: 21 July 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Viruses 8(7): 201
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License