A Conserved Region Common to Chikungunya (ChikV), Dengue (DenV) and Zika Viruses (ZikV): Potential as a Tool for Simultaneous Diagnosis and Therapeutics of the Three Viruses [Short Communication

Chetan Datta Poduri

doi:10.13189/ujmr.2020.080102

Abstract

There is an increasing need to develop strategies for simultaneous detection of Chikungunya (ChikV), Dengue (DenV) and Zika Virus (ZikV) owing to their shared transmission ecology. Towards this aim, nine reference sequences of ChikV, DenV (1 - 4) and ZikV were aligned using ClustalW Omega Software available at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) website. Internet search engines like Google (Scholar), PubMed, JSTOR, and ProQuest Central were used for literature search. Also, Conserved Domain Database (CDD) (NCBI) and ZikaVR (IMTECH, C'garh) formed constant references. One conserved region, 21 amino acids (aa) in length, common to the three viruses mapping to the Core protein of ChikV (aa 211 - 231); and the NS3 proteins of DenV (1 - 4) (aa 1608 – 1628) and ZikV (aa 1631/35 - 1651/55) has been identified by the current author in this study. This region is the part of a protease in all the three viruses studied. Thus, this conserved region can form one diagnostic tool/probe for simultaneous detection of ChikV, DenV and ZikV. Additionally, as this region is conserved, it may form one therapeutic target.

Highlights

Recent observations of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the disease dynamics of Zika Virus (ZikV) and Dengue Virus (DenV) seem to be working in tandem
The symptoms of many pathogenic infections overlap with those of the infections caused by either Chikungunya Virus (ChikV), DenV or ZikV
Characteristics of ChikV, DenV and ZikV are summarized as table 1

Summary

Introduction

Recent observations of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the disease dynamics of Zika Virus (ZikV) and Dengue Virus (DenV) seem to be working in tandem. ZikV, DenV and a third virus, the Chikungunya Virus (ChikV), share epidemiological parameters like transmission ecology [2, 3]. The symptoms of many pathogenic infections overlap with those of the infections caused by either ChikV, DenV or ZikV. There is an urgent need for developing strategies for simultaneous diagnosis of the three viruses. Such a work would initially involve identification of regions that are common and conserved to the three viruses being studied for the present

Literature Search

Reference Sequences

Identification of Conserved Region Common to the Three Viruses Being Studied

Results and Discussion

Conclusions