Eine Mexikanerin erforscht in Tirol das Dengue-Fieber

Summary:

Doctoral researcher Magda Benítez from CINVESTAV in Mexico City is completing a three-month research stay at the Institute of Virology. While reviewing the literature for her PhD, she came across publications by institute director Prof. Gisa Gerold, who has long focused on mosquito-borne viruses and had previously worked with the protein CD81 in the context of chikungunya. Benítez sent a spontaneous email — and had a response from Innsbruck within a week.

Her research centres on the role of CD81 — a member of the tetraspanin protein family — in the replication of dengue virus in human liver cells. Preliminary observations from Mexico suggest that CD81 levels decline as infection progresses. At the Institute of Virology, she is now using cell lines that either lack CD81 entirely or overexpress it, in order to systematically assess the protein’s impact on viral replication.

Dengue is endemic in Mexico and can, in severe cases, progress to life-threatening internal bleeding. No specific antiviral treatment currently exists. A vaccine recently approved in Mexico may offer future relief, though the conditions for its broader rollout have yet to be determined by health authorities.