New Antibody Discovery Holds Promise for Dengue Vaccine

In a new study, scientists are now able to determine the structure of the human antibody with the ability to fight the dengue virus.

Experts believe the finding will pave the way towards developing new and effective vaccines against the deadly virus.

Scientists from the National University of Singapore and Vanderbilt University have determined the structure of the human monoclonal antibody.

When tested on an animal model, the antibody was found to neutralize a particular type of potentially dangerous dengue virus.

Researchers now believe that the discovery could help create vaccines and also offer effective treatment therapies for over 390 million people who get infected with the virus on a yearly basis.

"Scientists in the antibody discovery group of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Centre continue to make great strides in developing novel antiviral drugs, such as this human antibody that not only kills dengue virus but also prevents enhanced dengue disease," said co-corresponding author James Crowe Jr.

Dengue is a particular difficult condition to treat because it comes with a complex set of 4 different but related mosquito viruses.

These 4 'serotypes' (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4) are a challenge to treat because the antibodies generated to fight one of the serotype does not offer protection against the others.

With the current study, the newly discovered antibody can bind to the DENV 2 virus before and after it has morphed. DENV2 happens to be more complex than other serotypes because of its ability to change its structure in the body.

The scientists are presently developing a cocktail of drugs that can kill all four serotypes of the dengue virus, having already developed antibodies for DENV 1 and DENV 3 in previous studies.