Arenavirus reverse genetics: New approaches for the investigation of arenavirus biology and development of antiviral strategies

Several arenaviruses, chiefly Lassa virus, cause hemorrhagic fever disease in humans and pose a significant public health problem in their endemic regions. On the other hand the prototypic arenavirus LCMV is a superb workhorse for the investigation of virus–host interactions and associated disease. The development of novel antiviral strategies to combat pathogenic arenaviruses would be facilitated by a detailed understanding of the arenavirus molecular and cell biology. To this end, the development of reverse genetic systems for several arenaviruses has provided investigators with novel and powerful approaches to dissect the functions of arenavirus proteins and their interactions with host factors required to complete each of the steps of the virus life cycle, as well as to cause disease.