Dengue Jab

Researchers from the University of South Carolina and Central Michigan University have identified a protein that could be used to prevent transmission of dengue virus. The protein could interfere with the virus in the mosquito after it feeds on the blood of infected hosts.

Scientists are confident that the protein could lead to the development of a vaccine against the deadly dengue virus. Scientists for this, studied mosquito genes up-regulated during dengue virus (DENV) infection because some of these are needed for DENV survival. Researchers during their project focused on one particular gene which they identified as CRVP379 that codes a putative cysteine-rich venom protein. It was found that CRVP379 is required during DENV infection in mosquito cells and that there is a direct relation between the amount of CRVP379 and the level of DENV infection in the mosquito’s gut.

Researchers showed that CRVP379 interacts with a protein called prohibition that is a putative DENV receptor in mosquitoes. When Aedes mosquitoes were fed with antibodies that are able to recognise CRVP379, it blocked the interaction of the protein with DENV. This ensures that DENV infection does not reach mosquitoes.