Finalist Essay: One antibody to treat them all: Conserved flavivirus protein holds potential as target for versatile vaccines and therapies

Abstract:

Flaviviruses are a group of medically important viral pathogens which cause diverse disease pathologies and significant global disease burden.

A contributing factor to flavivirus pathogenesis is the conserved non-structural protein 1 (NS1), which triggers vascular leak through interactions with endothelial cells.

While NS1-specific antibodies have been shown to be protective against flavivirus infection, the mechanism by which they protect is unknown.

To determine how anti-NS1 antibodies protect against flavivirus infection and how NS1 triggers pathogenesis, Dr. Biering and his team solved a crystal structure of a protective and cross-reactive monoclonal antibody 2B7 in complex with dengue virus NS1.


About Scott Biering:

Scott Biering received undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Chicago.

He is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley in the laboratory of Dr. Eva Harris.

His present research investigates the role of viral proteins like flavivirus nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) and SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) in inducing viral pathogenesis and promoting viral dissemination.

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Lisa Wagar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

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Michael Birnbaum, Ph.D., Assistant Professor