title: Biological characteristics of dengue virus and potential targets for drug design.
abstract: Dengue infection is a major cause of morbidity in tropical and subtropical regions, bringing nearly 40% of the world population at risk and causing more than 20,000 deaths per year. But there is neither a vaccine for dengue disease nor antiviral drugs to treat the infection. In recent years, dengue infection has been particularly prevalent in India, Southeast Asia, Brazil, and Guangdong Province, China. In this article, we present a brief summary of the biological characteristics of dengue virus and associated flaviviruses, and outline the progress on studies of vaccines and drugs based on potential targets of the dengue virus.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Protein Research, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Rui-feng
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cheng-wu
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chi
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003715:Dengue / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology*; D053059:Dengue Vaccines / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D015195:Drug Design; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019065:Virus Assembly
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D053059:Dengue Vaccines; D014764:Viral Proteins