Targeting Specific Neutralizing Antibodies May Tame Dengue

Developing a viable vaccine against the dengue virus has proved difficult for manufacturers because the pathogen is actually four different virus serotypes. Unless a vaccine protects against all four, it can wind up doing more harm than good.

To help vaccine developers overcome this hurdle, the UNC School of Medicine lab of Aravinda de Silva, Ph.D., professor in the UNC Department of Microbiology and Immunology, investigated samples from children enrolled in a dengue vaccine trial to identify the specific kinds of antibody responses that correlate with protection against dengue virus disease.

In doing so, the researchers discovered that a small subpopulation of antibodies binding to unique sites on each serotype is linked to protection.

“Our results suggest that a safe and effective dengue virus vaccine needs to stimulate neutralizing antibodies targeting unique sites on each of the four dengue serotypes. Not merely the neutralizing antibodies against cross-reactive epitopes common to all four dengue types.”

The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on May 18, 2021, provides important information for vaccine developers to consider when creating a dengue vaccine, which has long eluded scientists.

The U.S. FDA authorized the Dengvaxia vaccine for limited use on May 1, 2019, for people with laboratory-confirmed previous dengue infection and living in endemic areas. And on June 24, 2021, the U.S. CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices presented updated dengue vaccine considerations.