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Contract Research and Discovery

Mouse-Mosquito Transmission Model for Arbovirus Drug and Vaccine Development

The QIMR Berghofer Mosquito Control Laboratory offers tailored contract R&D services with one of the few facilities in Australia equipped to conduct mosquito-mouse transmission studies of biosecurity level 2 and 3 (BSL2/BSL3) pathogens. This rare capability is enabled by the co-localisation of a mouse holding
facility within our Biosecurity Insectary Containment level 3 (BIC3).

This integrated setup enables complete arbovirus transmission cycle between mosquitoes to mice, providing a robust platform for clients to evaluate the transmission-blocking efficacy of antiviral drugs, vaccines, and other intervention strategies against mosquito-borne diseases.

Furthermore, our platform allows flexible pairing of mice from both wild type and immunocompromised genetic backgrounds with mosquitoes from a “living library” of species and strains sourced from diverse regional and international locations. A comprehensive list is outlined below.

Services

  • Transmission-blocking efficacy studies
  • Preclinical testing of antiviral drugs and vaccines
  • Customised study design, execution, and reportin


    • Assay Capabilities

  • Mosquito blood feeding assays (e.g. indirect membrane feeding assays and direct feeding assays on mice)
  • Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) viral detection and quantification of viral load
  • Plaque assays (brightfield and fluorescence detection)
  • 50% cell culture infectious dose (CCID50) assays
  • Micro- and standard plaque reduction neutralisation tests (PRNT)
  • Mosquito dissections (e.g. midgut, salivary glands)
  • Saliva collection and arbovirus detection as a proxy for transmission
  • ELISA-based quantification of viruses, cytokines and antibodies
  • Whole mosquito histology and pathogen visualisation by immunofluorescence analysis (IFA) and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH)


    • Our Models

    Arborviruses

    • DENV serotype 2 (D220 mouse adapted)
    • Chikungunya (La Reunion 2005)
    • Japanese encephalitis (Nakayama, FU, NSW-2022)


    Mice

    • Wild type (C57BL/6)
    • Interferon regulatory factor 3/7 knock out (IRF 3/7 -/-)
    • Type I interferon receptor deficient (IFNAR1)


    Mosquitoes

    • Aedes aegpti (various strains, Qld and international)
    • Aedes albopictus (Hammond Island, Torres Strait)
    • Culex annulirostris (Brisbane)
    • Culex sitiens (Brisbane)
    • Aedes vigilax (Brisbane)
    • Anopheles stephensi (Pakistan)
    • Anopheles farauti (Papua New Guinea)


    Case Studies

  • Transmission Assessment of Live-Attenuated Chikungunya Vaccine VLA1553 (IXCHIQ, Valneva) (Parasit Vectors 2025)
  • Development of the chikungunya mosquito-mouse transmission model (Parasit Vectors 2016)