Date of Award

3-26-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction

Department

Department of Engineering Physics

First Advisor

Douglas R. Lewis, PhD.

Abstract

Dengue is an emerging hemorrhagic fever virus and widely considered the most important arbovirus in the world. Dengue virus (DENV) is a positive-sense RNA virus that exists in 4, potentially 5, antigenic serotypes. Currently, no vaccines or treatments are approved for DENV infections. Unsuccessful vaccine trials open the door for non-traditional treatments such as silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are known to inhibit viral replication of numerous viruses but have never before been tested for inhibition of dengue virus type 2 (DENV2, ATCC® VR-1584TM). For the first time, this research presents up to a 96% reduction in DENV2 binding to Vero cells following pretreatment with AgNP (6-10nm, 25µg/mL). These results suggest that similarly to other viruses, DENV2 can be inhibited at the first stage of the virus replication cycle, binding & entry.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENP-MS-15-M-089

DTIC Accession Number

ADA614921

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