Akaluc bioluminescence offers superior sensitivity to track in vivo dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Tomokazu Tamura; Hayato Ito; Shiho Torii; Lei Wang; Rigel Suzuki; Shuhei Tsujino; Akifumi Kamiyama; Yoshitaka Oda; Masumi Tsuda; Yuhei Morioka; Saori Suzuki; Kotaro Shirakawa; Kei Sato; Kumiko Yoshimatsu; Yoshiharu Matsuura; Satoshi Iwano; Shinya Tanaka; Takasuke Fukuhara

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109647

Akaluc bioluminescence offers superior sensitivity to track in vivo dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection

iScience. 2024 Mar 29;27(5):109647. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109647. eCollection 2024 May 17.

Authors

Tomokazu Tamura^{1

2

3}, Hayato Ito¹, Shiho Torii⁴, Lei Wang^{5

6}, Rigel Suzuki^{1

2}, Shuhei Tsujino¹, Akifumi Kamiyama¹, Yoshitaka Oda⁵, Masumi Tsuda^{5

6}, Yuhei Morioka^{1

4}, Saori Suzuki^{1

2}, Kotaro Shirakawa⁷, Kei Sato^{8

9

10

11

12

13

14}, Kumiko Yoshimatsu¹⁵, Yoshiharu Matsuura^{4

16}, Satoshi Iwano¹⁷, Shinya Tanaka^{5

6}, Takasuke Fukuhara^{1

2

3

4

18}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8638, Japan.
² Institute for Vaccine Research and Development (IVReD), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 001-0021, Japan.
³ One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0818, Japan.
⁴ Laboratory of Virus Control, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
⁵ Department of Cancer Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8638, Japan.
⁶ Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 001-0021, Japan.
⁷ Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
⁸ Division of Systems Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
⁹ Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
¹⁰ Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0882, Japan.
¹¹ CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
¹² International Research Center for Infectious Diseases, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
¹³ International Vaccine Design Center, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
¹⁴ Collaboration Unit for Infection, Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.
¹⁵ Institute for Genetic Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0815, Japan.
¹⁶ Laboratory of Virus Control, Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
¹⁷ Institute for Tenure Track Promotion, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan.
¹⁸ AMED-CREST, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Tokyo, Tokyo 100-0004, Japan.

Abstract

Monitoring in vivo viral dynamics can improve our understanding of pathogenicity and tissue tropism. Because the gene size of RNA viruses is typically small, NanoLuc is the primary choice for accommodation within viral genome. However, NanoLuc/Furimazine and also the conventional firefly luciferase/D-luciferin are known to exhibit relatively low tissue permeability and thus less sensitivity for visualization of deep tissue including lungs. Here, we demonstrated in vivo sufficient visualization of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection using the pair of a codon-optimized Akaluc and AkaLumine. We engineered the codon-optimized Akaluc gene possessing the similar GC ratio of SARS-CoV-2. Using the SARS-CoV-2 recombinants carrying the codon-optimized Akaluc, we visualized in vivo infection of respiratory organs, including the tissue-specific differences associated with particular variants. Additionally, we could evaluate the efficacy of antivirals by monitoring changes in Akaluc signals. Overall, we offer an effective technology for monitoring viral dynamics in live animals.

Keywords: Methodology in biological sciences; Virology.