rethinkPeptides Search
Menu
Home / Research library
Study breakdown

Using Cell-Penetrating Peptides to Track Dengue Virus Inside Living Cells

RPEP-051842020Victorio, Carla Bianca Luena; Novera, Wisna; Tham, Jing Yang; Watanabe, Satoru; Vasudevan, Subhash G; Chacko, Ann-Marie
In VitroPreliminary evidence
The takeaway

Peptide-conjugated morpholino oligomers enable real-time imaging of dengue virus replication inside living cells, providing a new molecular tracking tool.

Live-cell tracking

CPP-morpholino probes enable real-time visualization of dengue virus RNA inside living cells

What the researchers found

CPP-conjugated morpholino oligomers enable in situ live-cell molecular imaging of dengue virus replication, providing both spatial and temporal information simultaneously.

Why it matters

Current pathogen detection methods sacrifice either spatial context or temporal detail. This CPP-based approach provides both, enabling better understanding of viral biology.

The numbers in context

PPMOs targeting DENV2; unsuitable for live-cell imaging; adequate as antivirals; cautionary negative result

How the study worked

Antisense morpholino probe design targeting dengue viral RNA, CPP conjugation for cell delivery, live-cell imaging microscopy.

Who was studied

In vitro DENV2 infection imaging study

What this study cannot tell us

Proof-of-concept for dengue virus specifically. Signal specificity and sensitivity need further optimization. Not yet validated for other viruses.

How to read the evidence

Proof-of-concept study demonstrating a new imaging application for CPP conjugates.

When this study was published

Published in 2020.

The bigger picture

This technology could be adapted to study any pathogen's lifecycle in living cells, accelerating drug discovery and basic virology research.

Questions still open

  • Can this approach track other RNA viruses in live cells?
  • Could it be used to screen antiviral drugs in real-time?
  • What is the detection limit compared to PCR-based methods?

Common questions

How do you watch a virus inside a living cell?
These probes use a small piece of synthetic DNA-like material (morpholino) that matches the virus's genetic code, conjugated with a cell-penetrating peptide that gets it inside cells. When the probe binds viral RNA, it produces a detectable signal showing where the virus is replicating.
Why is live-cell imaging important for virus research?
Traditional methods either kill cells to analyze them (losing time information) or detect only overall viral levels (losing location information). Live-cell imaging with CPP probes shows exactly where and when the virus replicates, helping researchers understand viral biology.

Read the original research

Peptide-Conjugated Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomers for In Situ Live-Cell Molecular Imaging of Dengue Virus Replication.

International journal of molecular sciences, 21(23)

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Victorio, Carla Bianca Luena; Novera, Wisna; Tham, Jing Yang; Watanabe, Satoru; Vasudevan, Subhash G; Chacko, Ann-Marie. (2020). Peptide-Conjugated Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomers for In Situ Live-Cell Molecular Imaging of Dengue Virus Replication.. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21239260