A team of researchers led by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan has discovered an antibody that blocks the inside body of the dengue virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that affects between 50 and 100 million people a year. The virus causes something called dengue fever, with symptoms including fever, vomiting and muscle aches, which can lead to more serious illness, and even death.
Currently, there are no effective treatments or vaccines for the dengue virus. Because there are four different strains of the virus, raising antibodies against one strain can make people more vulnerable to other diseases from another strain, making it more difficult to find an effective drug. Scientists using the Advanced Photon Source (APS), the U.S. Department of Energy Office (DOE) Science Office User Facility located at the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, have reported success.
The dengue virus uses a special protein, called Non-Structural Protein 1 (NS1), to penetrate the immune cells around organs. It weakens the immune barrier, allows the virus to capture the cell, and can damage blood vessels. The research team’s antibody, called 2B7, physically blocks NS1 protein, preventing it from attaching itself to cells and slowing the spread of the virus. Furthermore, because it attacks the protein directly and not the virus itself, 2B7 is effective against all four strains of the dengue virus.
The research team used X-ray isolation techniques to test the structures of the NS1 protein with a bound antibody (2B7) and showed how the antibody provides protection against the virus. These transmission images were obtained at the APS General Medical Sciences and GM Institutions (GM / CA) Structural Biology Facility.
Researchers have shown that the antibody 2B7 effectively inhibits the spread of the dengue virus in live mice. They described their findings in Science. The paper suggests that this same antibody could provide new treatments for other flaviviruses such as dengue, a group that includes Zika and West Nile.
“Flaviviruses affect hundreds of millions of people each year, and tens of thousands die from the diseases associated with them,” said Bob Fischetti of Argonne, group director with the Department of X-ray Sciences and science consultant life to the director of APS. “Protein structures tested at the APS have been instrumental in the development of drugs and vaccines for a number of diseases, and these new findings are critical in developing potential treatments. effective against flaviviruses. “
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Materials provided by DOE / Argonne National Laboratory. Original writing by Andre Salles. Note: Content can be edited for style and length.