SYDNEY, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- An antibody has been identified that can protect people from infections caused by a wide range of mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue and Zika.
According to a study released on Friday, researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia, who led the study, said they identified a virus protein called NS1 as a new target to treat flavivirus from Zika outbreak in 2015.
"Now we've shown for the first time that a single NS1 antibody can be protective against multiple flaviviruses including dengue, Zika and West Nile virus," Associate Professor Daniel Watterson from UQ's School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said.
"No other antibody reported has shown such a broad range of protection."
Researchers said their unexpected new finding had a major advantage over previous treatments and offered renewed hope for the dengue vaccine.
"Creating vaccines and therapies has been greatly hindered because antibodies that target the main viral envelope protein can also enhance disease," Watterson said.
"This phenomenon is called antibody dependent enhancement (ADE), and contributed to the complications arising from large-scale roll-out of the first licensed dengue vaccine," he said.
"But because NS1 antibodies don't drive ADE, our findings provide the blueprint for new and safe broad-spectrum vaccines against multiple flaviviruses, including dengue."
In the future, the potential treatments developed from the antibody could be used to fight many flaviviruses found in other parts of the world, according to lead author UQ's Dr. Naphak Modhiran.
The study involved an international collaboration between Australian and Chinese researchers, according to the university. Enditem
