Mosquito-borne viral infections once confined to tropical regions are spreading. Dengue virus infects up to 400 million people worldwide each year according to World Health Organization estimates, and no available treatments exist for this disease. Now, research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has uncovered surprising strategies for how dengue and hundreds of other viruses replicate in their hosts, with the potential to aid in developing novel antiviral treatments and vaccines.
Led by Stowers Predoctoral Researcher Luciana Castellano in the lab of Associate Investigator Ariel Bazzini, Ph.D., the study, published in Molecular Systems Biology on July 22, 2024, revealed that the dengue virus genome uses less efficient codons, or "vocabulary," to make its own proteins using the host's machinery to replicate, and spread.
A codon is a sequence of three nucleotides, or "words" in the genetic code that help make proteins. The researchers found that hundreds of other viruses also use "words" in their genetic code that are less efficient in their mosquito and human hosts. "Now that we know what dengue and other viruses use when they infect our cells, we have clues for how we may be able to help prevent these deadly diseases," said Bazzini.
During infection, host cells and viral invaders are at war. Like building weapons, both viruses and cells need to build proteins to fight and defend themselves." Luciana Castellano, Stowers Predoctoral Researcher Dengue virus needs th.