Cloning and Expression of Genes for Dengue Virus Type-2 Encoded-Antigens for Rapid Diagnosis and Vaccine Development

It is confirmed that a short peptide, QLKLNWFKKGSS can elicit neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. The titer of the antibodies in neutralization was 1:320 for a 50% reduction. Attempt to express NS1 in mammalian cells was made using NS1 coding sequence cloned under the control of RSV promoter. No protein was detected by in vivo labeling and immunoprecipitation techniques. The same coding sequence of NS1 when transferred to a vaccinia-based expression system which produces both the mRNA and the protein in the cytoplasm, there was good expression of NS1, suggesting that there is no lethal mutation in the coding sequence of NS1. A long cDNA from nucleotide 7 to 4700 of DEN-2 genome was constructed.