Open access
DENV-4 infection suppresses transcription of DNA repair genes
Erica N Lamkin
Jessica Reich
Josh A. Victor
M. Guyette
Naveen Kothandaraman
V. Gupta
Alfred T Harding
Tristan X. Jordan
Lee Gehrke
Pei Zhou
B. tenOever
Nimrat Chatterjee
Aug 2026 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · Vol 123 · 0 citations
· 18 references
Medicine
Abstract
The molecular mechanisms behind Dengue virus-dependent host pathogenesis, especially genome instability, remain largely unclear. This RNA virus causes a debilitating disease during active infection and presents future risks of postdengue syndromes, leukemia, and DNA damage in the blood cells of infected patients, with the underlying mechanisms unknown. In this study, we show that DENV-4 infection induces significant DNA damage and suppresses the transcription of genes involved in DNA repair and select mutagenic translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases, indicating that DENV-4-dependent pathobiology leaves durable biological “scars” that incrementally increase chronic disease risk, including carcinogenesis and postdengue syndromes.