The infection causes symptoms similar to dengue fever, followed by a prolonged disease that affects the joints and causes severe arthritis. In recent outbreaks, some cases progressed to fatal encephalitis.
The researchers studied “virus-like particles,” or non-infectious forms of the virus. They also obtained near atomic-scale resolution of the virus attached to four separate antibodies.
“We knew these antibodies neutralize the real virus, so we wanted to know how they do it,” says Michael Rossmann, professor of biological sciences at Purdue University.
As reported in the journal eLife, the scientists used a technique called cryoelectron microscopy to uncover critical structural details about the virus-like particles bound to the antibodies. The particles are made of 180 “heterodimers,” molecules made of two proteins: envelope protein 1, or E1, and envelope protein 2, or E2.
