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DC-SIGN (CD209) mediates dengue virus infection of human dendritic cells
Boonrat Tassaneetrithep1, Timothy H Burgess, Angela Granelli-Piperno
1Division of Retrovirology, Walter Reed Army Institite of Research and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Diseases, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. mmarovich@hivresearch.org
Abstract:
Dengue virus is a single-stranded, enveloped RNA virus that productively infects human dendritic cells (DCs) primarily at the immature stage of their differentiation. We now find that all four serotypes of dengue use DC-SIGN (CD209), a C-type lectin, to infect dendritic cells. THP-1 cells become susceptible to dengue infection after transfection of DC-specific ICAM-3 grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN), or its homologue L-SIGN, whereas the infection of dendritic cells is blocked by anti-DC-SIGN antibodies and not by antibodies to other molecules on these cells. Viruses produced by dendritic cells are infectious for DC-SIGN- and L-SIGN-bearing THP-1 cells and other permissive cell lines. Therefore, DC-SIGN may be considered as a new target for designing therapies that block dengue infection.