The dengue mystery could be originated from the heterogeneity of four dengue virus (DENV) serotypes. A group of researchers from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology recently studied the immunogenicity of DENV1-4 ED3s (envelope protein domain 3) in Swiss albino and BALB/c mice. Firstly, despite having very similar sequences and structures, the humoral and cellular immunogenicity of ED3s varied significantly with the order DENV2 ED3 (2ED3) ~3ED3 > 1ED3 > 4ED3. Secondly, anti-1ED3 sera cross-reacted with 2ED3 and 3ED3; anti-2ED3 and anti-3ED3 sera cross-reacted with each other, but anti-4ED3 was completely serotype-specific.  Such disparity in the ED3 responses and cross-reaction might underlie the appearance of hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome.

Read the whole article:  https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032393