Related topics: virus · mosquitoes

Protein from mosquitoes could help control dengue virus infection

NUS scientists have revealed the structure and function of a pupal cuticle protein found in the exoskeleton—a hard covering that supports and protects the bodies of some types of invertebrate animals, especially arthropods—of ...

Five mosquito myths and one truth that really bite

Nothing kills a hammock hangout, Sunday hike or backyard barbecue faster than the stealthy blitz of the mosquito, those vampires of the insect world that strike fast and leave red, itchy bumps—or worse—in their wake.

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West Nile virus

West Nile virus (or WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis (JE) antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, and domestic rabbits. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito.

Image reconstructions and cryoelectron microscopy reveal a 45–50 nm virion covered with a relatively smooth protein surface. This structure is similar to the dengue fever virus; both belong to the genus Flavivirus within the family Flaviviridae. The genetic material of WNV is a positive-sense, single strand of RNA, which is between 11,000 and 12,000 nucleotides long; these genes encode seven non-structural proteins and three structural proteins. The RNA strand is held within a nucleocapsid formed from 12 kDa protein blocks; the capsid is contained within a host-derived membrane altered by two viral glycoproteins.

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