Dengue envelope domain III protein: Properties, production and potential applications in dengue diagnosis

Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV) is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to theFlaviviridae family. It causes dengue fever in humans and in some cases, progresses todengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS), which result inmortality. The DENV comprises four antigenically distinct serotypes (1 to 4). The envelope(E) protein of the virus comprises three Domains - I, II and III. The Domain III (DIII)protein has been demonstrated to be involved in host recognition. More importantly, theDIII protein has been shown to be highly immunogenic, and is able to elicit the generationof neutralizing antibodies against the wild-type virus itself. For this reason, the DIII proteinis believed to be a potential candidate as a protein subunit vaccine and as a diagnosticreagent for dengue serology. In this review, we discuss the distinct biological properties ofthe DIII protein, issues relating to its production and the prospects for a DIII protein- baseddiagnostic assay. © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.