Dimerization of Dengue Virus E Subunits Impacts Antibody Function and Domain Focus

Abstract

Dengue virus vaccine development is particularly challenging because vaccines have to provide protection against four different dengue virus stereotypes. The leading dengue virus vaccine candidates in clinical testing are all based on live-virus vaccine platforms and struggle to induce balanced immunity. Envelope subunit antigens have the potential to overcome these limitations but have historically performed poorly as vaccine antigens, because the versions tested previously were presented as monomers and not in their natural dimer configuration. This study shows that the authentic presentation of DENV2 E-based subunits has a strong impact on antibody responses, underscoring the importance of mimicking the complex protein structures that are found on DENV particle surfaces when designing subunit vaccines.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Aug 31, 2020
Source ID
10.1128/jvi.00745-20

Entities

People

  • Aravinda M. de Silva
  • Ashlie Thomas
  • Brian Kuhlman
  • Devina Thiono
  • John Forsberg
  • Lakshmanane Premkumar
  • Shaomin Tian
  • Stefan W Metz
  • Stephan T. Kudlacek

Organizations

  • National Institutes of Health
  • United States Department of Defense
  • University of North Carolina

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Immunology
  • Infectious Disease/Epidemiology
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology