Scientists find antibody that blocks dengue virus

Date:
January 13, 2021
Source:
DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
Summary:
A research team confirm an effective antibody that prevents
the dengue virus from infecting cells in mice, and may lead to
treatments for this and similar diseases.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A team of researchers led by the University of California, Berkeley and
the University of Michigan has discovered an antibody that blocks the
spread within the body of the dengue virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen
that infects between 50 and 100 million people a year. The virus causes
what is known as dengue fever, symptoms of which include fever, vomiting
and muscle aches, and can lead to more serious illnesses, and even death.


========================================================================== Currently, there are no effective treatments or vaccines for the dengue
virus.

Since there are four different strains of the virus, building up
antibodies against one strain can actually leave people more vulnerable to subsequent infection from another strain, which makes finding an effective therapeutic more difficult. Scientists using the Advanced Photon Source
(APS), a U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility located at
the DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, have reported success.

The dengue virus uses a particular protein, called Non-Structural Protein
1 (NS1), to latch onto the protective cells around organs. It weakens the protective barrier, allowing the virus to infect the cell, and may cause
the rupture of blood vessels. The research team's antibody, called 2B7, physically blocks the NS1 protein, preventing it from attaching itself to
cells and slowing the spread of the virus. Moreover, because it attacks
the protein directly and not the virus particle itself, 2B7 is effective against all four strains of the dengue virus.

The research team used X-ray diffraction techniques to determine
structures of the NS1 protein with a bound antibody (2B7) and showed how
the antibody provides protection against the virus. These diffraction
images were obtained at the General Medical Sciences and Cancer Institutes Structural Biology Facility (GM/CA) at the APS.

Researchers showed that the 2B7 antibody effectively blocks the spread of
the dengue virus in live mice. They reported their results in Science. The paper suggests that this same antibody could provide new treatments for
other flaviviruses like dengue, a group that includes Zika and West Nile.

"Flaviviruses infect hundreds of millions of people a year, and tens of thousands die from the associated diseases," said Argonne's Bob Fischetti, group leader with the X-ray Sciences Division and life sciences advisor
to the APS director. "Protein structures determined at the APS have
played a critical role in the development of drugs and vaccines for
several diseases, and these new results are key to the development of
a potentially effective treatment against flaviviruses."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
DOE/Argonne_National_Laboratory. Original written by Andre Salles. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Scott B. Biering, David L. Akey, Marcus P. Wong, W. Clay Brown,
Nicholas
T. N. Lo, Henry Puerta-Guardo, Francielle Tramontini Gomes de Sousa,
Chunling Wang, Jamie R. Konwerski, Diego A. Espinosa, Nicholas J.

Bockhaus, Dustin R. Glasner, Jeffrey Li, Sophie F. Blanc, Evan
Y. Juan, Stephen J. Elledge, Michael J. Mina, P. Robert Beatty,
Janet L. Smith, Eva Harris. Structural basis for antibody inhibition
of flavivirus NS1- triggered endothelial dysfunction. Science,
2021; 371 (6525): 194 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc0476 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210113120708.htm

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