Evaluating Filociclovir's Activity Against Murine Cytomegalovirus In Vitro Using Fluorescent Imaging
Date of Award:
5-2026
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Biological Engineering
Committee Chair(s)
David Britt
Committee
David Britt
Committee
Elizabeth Vargis
Committee
Lukas Buecherl
Abstract
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that causes irreversible hearing loss to infants and young children by infecting the developing inner ear. However, current treatments for CMV, such as ganciclovir, are often associated with harmful side effects and may not be fully effective once the virus develops resistance.
The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of an experimental drug known as filociclovir (FCV), which is theorized to be effective against CMV with fewer side effects compared to current treatments The effectiveness of FCV was evaluated using two distinct tissue types: a commercially available standardized mouse cell line (used in cell culture) and a tissue derived from a mouse's inner ear. Each type of tissue was infected with a fluorescent version of CMV and then subjected to fluorescence microscopy to evaluate drug effectiveness (i.e., non-fluorescent cells) and degree of infection (i.e., fluorescent cells).
To measure the extent of infection, a software tool was developed to automatically count the total number of cells in each image, along with those cells that were actively fluorescing due to CMV infection. Based on these counts, FCV demonstrated the ability to reduce the total amount of fluorescence within cell cultures and thus inhibit the spread of CMV. Additionally, FCV was found to be significantly more effective at reducing fluorescence in both cell types than ganciclovir. These results suggest that FCV has the potential to be a more effective treatment for CMV than current treatments.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Paskins, Chanse Maximillion, "Evaluating Filociclovir's Activity Against Murine Cytomegalovirus In Vitro Using Fluorescent Imaging" (2026). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present. 701.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd2023/701
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