The prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications published research conducted by Drs. Carlos A. Sariol, Melween Martínez and Armando Burgos, professors at the School of Medicine of the Medical Sciences Campus (RCM) of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR).

The article led by Dr. Sariol and Drs. Aravinda de Silva and Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, also includes the participation of prominent scientists Ellen Young, Boyd Yount, Petraleigh Pantoja, Sandra Henein, Rita Meganck, Jennifer McBride, Jennifer Munt, Thomas Baric, Deanna Zhu, Trevor Scobey, Stephanie Dong, Longping Tse, Rachel Graham and Laura White.

According to Dr. Sariol, professor and researcher at the School of Medicine of the Medical Sciences Campus, "the research, entitled A live dengue virus vaccine carrying a chimeric envelope glycoprotein elicits dual serotype-specific DENV2-DENV4 immunity, addresses for the first time in the history of dengue vaccine development, the possibility of simplifying this vaccine that usually requires four different components or viruses. This proof of concept demonstrates that a single vaccine can induce an effective immune response against two of the four dengue virus serotypes. In this way, a final vaccine could have only two components and not four as it has been done so far. It is precisely the need to include four components in the vaccine that has led to unbalanced immune responses against the four dengue viruses."  

"This work marks a before and after in dengue vaccine development. It is a radically new approach to this type of vaccine. A lot of work is still needed, but we are confident that we are on the right track," said Dr. Carlos Sariol, who already has three publications in the prestigious journal.

It is important to note that this type of innovative research published in prestigious journals is an essential contribution to the UPR School of Medicine.

The research article is available at the following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36702-x

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