Animation of NS1 protein structure
Dengue fever and West Nile fever are mosquito-borne diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year, but there is no vaccine against either of the related viruses. A team of scientists at University of Michigan, along with colleagues at Purdue University, discovered a key aspect to both how the viruses replicate in the cells of their host and how they manipulate the immune system as they spread.
Researchers led by Janet Smith of U-M's Life Sciences Institute describe for the first time the structure of NS1, a protein that helps the flavivirus family replicate and spread infection. NS1 is produced inside infected cells, where it plays a key role in replication of the virus. NS1 is also released into the bloodstream, where it may help disguise the infection from the patient's immune system and may play a role in the hemorrhage that is seen in severe dengue virus infection.
The findings supply a target for a potential vaccine or for treatment of the viral diseases.
For more information on Smith's research, visit http://www.lsi.umich.edu/people/janet.... For more about the Life Sciences Institute, visit http://lsi.umich.edu. For more information about crystallography and structural biology at University of Michigan, visit http://www.lsi.umich.edu/centers/cent....
This animation of the NS1 protein was created using X-ray crystallography, a technique that uses X-ray beams to map the positions of atoms in a crystal