Platelet factor 4 promotes rapid replication and propagation of Dengue and Japanese encephalitis viruses

• December 8, 2018
• Science News@RCB
• rcb
• 1 Comment.

Potential target for developing anti-viral drugg

Amrita Ojha et al. described how the elevated level of a platelet cytokine, PF4 enhanced the replication and infection of Dengue and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in patients and in mice. They have described that the treatment with AMG487, a small molecule antagonist to CXCR3 (the receptor of PF4) abrogated the JEV infection in mice and increased significantly the survival of the animals. Authors suggested that the inhibition of either PF4 or CXCR3 in patients could be a potential target for developing treatment regimens against viruses including Dengue and JEV. Detail link of the article in EBioMedicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.11.049