A web-based artificial intelligence system for label-free virus classification and detection of cytopathic effects.

Creative Commons License

Akkutay-Yoldar Z., Yoldar M. T., Akkaş Y. B., Şurak S., Garip F., Turan O., ...Daha Fazla

Scientific reports, cilt.15, sa.1, ss.5904, 2025 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 15 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1038/s41598-025-89639-0
  • Dergi Adı: Scientific reports
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Core, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.5904
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Identifying viral replication within cells demands labor-intensive isolation methods, requiring

specialized personnel and additional confirmatory tests. To facilitate this process, we developed an

AI-powered automated system called AI Recognition of Viral CPE (AIRVIC), specifically designed

to detect and classify label-free cytopathic effects (CPEs) induced by SARS-CoV-2, BAdV-1, BPIV3,

BoAHV-1, and two strains of BoGHV-4 in Vero and MDBK cell lines. AIRVIC utilizes convolutional

neural networks, with ResNet50 as the primary architecture, trained on 40,369 microscopy images at

various magnifications. AIRVIC demonstrated strong CPE detection, achieving 100% accuracy for the

BoGHV-4 DN-599 strain in MDBK cells, the highest among tested strains. In contrast, the BoGHV-4

MOVAR 33/63 strain in Vero cells showed a lower accuracy of 87.99%, the lowest among all models

tested. For virus classification, a multi-class accuracy of 87.61% was achieved for bovine viruses in

MDBK cells; however, it dropped to 63.44% when the virus was identified without specifying the

cell line. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research article published in English to utilize

AI for distinguishing animal virus infections in cell culture. AIRVIC’s hierarchical structure highlights

its adaptability to virological diagnostics, providing unbiased infectivity scoring and facilitating viral

isolation and antiviral efficacy testing. Additionally, AIRVIC is accessible as a web-based platform,

allowing global researchers to leverage its capabilities in viral diagnostics and beyond.