Dengue Virus Reporter Replicon is a Valuable Tool for Antiviral Drug Discovery and Analysis of Virus Replication Mechanisms

Dengue, the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral disease, is caused by the dengue virus (DENV), a member of the Flaviviridae family, and is a considerable public health threat in over 100 countries, with 2.5 billion people living in high-risk areas. However, no specific antiviral drug or licensed vaccine currently targets DENV infection. The replicon system has all the factors needed for viral replication in cells. Since the development of replicon systems, transient and stable reporter replicons, as well as reporter viruses, have been used in the study of various virological aspects of DENV and in the identification of DENV inhibitors. In this review, we summarize the DENV reporter replicon system and its applications in high-throughput screening (HTS) for identification of anti-DENV inhibitors. We also describe the use of this system in elucidation of the mechanisms of virus replication and viral dynamics in vivo and in vitro.