Get New Approaches To Structure-based Discovery Of Dengue Protease ... - Utmb

Dengue Viral Infection The virus infects nearby skin cells called keratinocytes, the most common cell type in the skin. The dengue virus also infects and replicates inside a specialized immune cell located in the skin, a type of dendritic cell called a Langerhans cell.

The 11kb RNA genome of the dengue virus encodes three structural proteins (envelope, pre-membrane, capsid) and seven non-structural proteins (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5), all of which are translated as a single polyprotein that is subsequently cleaved by viral and host cellular proteases at specific ...

The dengue NS2B/NS3 protease is a promising target for direct-acting antivirals, as viral polyprotein cleavage during replication is required for the maturation of the viral particle. The NS2B/NS3 protease processes 8 of the 13 viral polyprotein cleavage sites to allow viral maturation.

Mature DENV virions consist of three structural proteins, the capsid protein (C), membrane protein (M), and the envelope protein (E). The C protein (11 kDa), in multiple copies, encapsulate the RNA genome forming the viral nucleocapsid.

Abstract. Dengue viruses infect cells by attaching to a surface receptor, probably through the envelope (E) glycoprotein, located on the surface of the viral membrane.

This review summarizes the structural biology of these three key enzymes (protease, methyltransferase, and polymerase) that are essential for DENV replication. The new structural information has provided new avenues for development of anti-dengue therapy.

The Dengue virus, roughly spherical in shape, is an enveloped single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus with an icosahedral nucleocapsid covered by the lipid bilayer.

NS2B-NS3 protease is responsible for all cytoplasmic cleavages including at junctions between NS2A/NS2B, NS2B/NS3, NS3/NS4A and NS4B/NS5 proteins and within the capsid, NS2A and NS4A proteins5,6.