Dengue Fever: Causes, Complications, and Vaccine Strategies

Figure 1

Genome organization and membrane topology of dengue virus. The viral RNA is translated as a single polyprotein consisting of structural (light brown-C, prM, and E) and nonstructural (dark brown-NS1, 2A, 2B, 3, 4A, 4B, and 5) protein components. Symbols C, prM, E, NS, and PM denote capsid protein, precursor membrane protein, envelope protein, nonstructural proteins, and plasma membrane, respectively. This single polyprotein then gets processed by viral (green arrow) and host (black arrow) proteases. The structural proteins (prM and E) remain anchored on the luminal side of the ER membrane. The C protein is anchored on the cytoplasmic side of ER membrane. prM is later cleaved by furin (red arrow) in the TGN into the pr peptide and M protein. The NS proteins are mainly processed by NS2B-NS3 (viral protease) in the cytoplasm. NS2A/2B and NS4A/4B are transmembrane proteins and thus stay anchored in the ER. The approximate molecular weight (in kDa) of each protein has been indicated in braces.