Dengue Virus (DENV, dengue fever)

An icosahedral (∼500 Å), positive strand RNA virus translated into a single 350 kDa polyprotein and causes either the dengue fever or the hemorrhagic dengue. Both of them are debilitating diseases primarily in South-East Asia. Mosquitos transmit the virus. For productive infection, dendritic cell-specific ICAM-3 grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN1, encoded by CD209), an attachment receptor of the virus is essential. Variants of CD209 discriminate between severe dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (Sakuntabhai A et al 2005 Nature Genet 37:507). A way of protection was worked out involving the transformation of the mosquito (Aedes egypti) by a Sindbis virus vector carrying a 567-base antisense RNA of the premembrane coding region of the dengue-2 virus. The transduced mosquitos cannot support the replication and thus do not transmit the virus. biological control, antisense RNA, ICAM, DC-SIGN; Diamond MS, Harris E 2001 Virology 289:297; DENV structure: Pokidysheva E et al 2006 Cell...