sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
NATURE | LETTER near-final version
[h=1]Structure of the thermally stable Zika virus[/h]
snip
oth the TIM (T cell, immunoglobulin and mucin) and TAM (Tyro3, Axl and Mer) phosphatidylserine transmembrane receptors have been shown to be used by DENV for cell entry[SUP]24[/SUP]. Conversely, ZIKV was shown to bind to TAM but not TIM receptors[SUP]23[/SUP]. It is possible that the looser surface of DENV2 compared to ZIKV could allow more interactions with a wider range of phosphatidylserine-binding receptors.
Unlike DENV, ZIKV is detected in the urine[SUP]6[/SUP], saliva[SUP]5[/SUP] and semen[SUP]4[/SUP] (which allows potential transmission by sexual contact[SUP]25[/SUP]), suggesting that the virus is stable enough to withstand harsh conditions. This is consistent with our infection assay showing that ZIKV is more thermally stable than DENV. Furthermore, the potential interactions identified in our structure may explain the stability of ZIKV and may serve as potential sites to exploit for future therapeutics.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vnfv/ncurrent/full/nature17994.html
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[h=1]Structure of the thermally stable Zika virus[/h]
- Victor A. Kostyuchenko,
- Elisa X. Y. Lim,
- Shuijun Zhang,
- Guntur Fibriansah,
- Thiam-Seng Ng,
- Justin S. G. Ooi,
- Jian Shi
- & Shee-Mei Lok
snip
oth the TIM (T cell, immunoglobulin and mucin) and TAM (Tyro3, Axl and Mer) phosphatidylserine transmembrane receptors have been shown to be used by DENV for cell entry[SUP]24[/SUP]. Conversely, ZIKV was shown to bind to TAM but not TIM receptors[SUP]23[/SUP]. It is possible that the looser surface of DENV2 compared to ZIKV could allow more interactions with a wider range of phosphatidylserine-binding receptors.
Unlike DENV, ZIKV is detected in the urine[SUP]6[/SUP], saliva[SUP]5[/SUP] and semen[SUP]4[/SUP] (which allows potential transmission by sexual contact[SUP]25[/SUP]), suggesting that the virus is stable enough to withstand harsh conditions. This is consistent with our infection assay showing that ZIKV is more thermally stable than DENV. Furthermore, the potential interactions identified in our structure may explain the stability of ZIKV and may serve as potential sites to exploit for future therapeutics.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vnfv/ncurrent/full/nature17994.html