Propagation of Chikungunya virus using mosquito cells

Abstract

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that transmits in between a mosquito host vector to a primate host and then back to the mosquito host vector to complete its life cycle. Hence, CHIKV must be able to replicate in both host cellular systems that are genetically and biochemically distinct. The ability to grow and propagate the virus in high titers in the laboratory is fundamentally crucial in order to understand virus replication in different host cellular systems and many other CHIKV research areas. Here, we describe a method on CHIKV propagation using C6/36, a mosquito cell line derived from Aedes albopictus in both serum-containing and serum-free media.