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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;297:1423.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A newly developed screening technology may be useful for identifying potential targets for drugs against dengue fever, an infectious disease that lacks effective prevention or treatment countermeasures (Chu JJ and Yang PL. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104:3520-3525).

Using this microscopy-based immunofluorescence technology, investigators at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, discovered that inhibitors of the c-Src protein kinase hinder the mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes dengue fever. Further analysis revealed that the anticancer drug dasatinib, a c-Src protein kinase inhibitor, prevents the assembly of dengue virions and may therefore be an effective therapy.

Because of its simplicity and reproducibility, the new assay should be useful for identifying small molecule inhibitors of dengue virus infection and replication, the authors wrote. In addition, further studies may improve understanding of dengue virus–host interactions.

Dengue virus spreads rapidly among control cells (top) but not among dasatinib-treated cells (bottom). Viral . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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