Capsid-targeted viral inactivation can destroy dengue 2 virus from within in vitro

Capsid-targeted viral inactivation (CTVI) has emerged as a conceptually powerful antiviral strategy that exploits viral structural proteins to target a destructive enzyme specifically into progeny virions. We have recently demonstrated the principle of CTVI against dengue virus infection and observed a modest therapeutic effect in vitro (Arch Virol 2005, 150: 659-669). Here we tested a prophylactic model of CTVI, in which mammalian cells stably expressing the dengue 2 virus capsid protein fused to a nuclease were infected with dengue virus and determined the effects on progeny virion infectivity. CTVI efficiently destroyed dengue 2 virus from within and decreased the infectious titers by 10(3)- to 10(4)-fold, suggesting that CTVI has potential in the prophylactic application for dengue virus infection.