Diagnostic Discrimination of Zika and Dengue-2 Infection by High-Throughput TCR Sequencing

The Zika virus has been listed as a global health threat by the World Health Organization due to its association with congenital birth defects. Current FDA-approved diagnostics are unable to distinguish between infection with Zika and other flaviviruses. Here, we report on the computational identification of virus-associated TCRβ-sequencing using high-throughput sequencing prior to and after infection with Zika or Dengue-2 viruses. Computationally identified T cell receptor sequences were shown to be virus-specific and used to develop a diagnostic assay that correctly diagnoses Zika and Dengue-2 infected in mice with 97% accuracy. These results identify populations of TCR sequences specific for Zika and Dengue infection that can be used for diagnostic purposes, and serve as an important proof-of-principle, providing a novel platform for accurately diagnosing Zika virus infection.