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Q&A with Scott Halstead: Zika will subside in ‘5 years, max’
By Jon CohenMar. 7, 2016 , 11:00 AM
snips
Q: Do you think an antibody enhancementlike feature with Zika is behind the severe disease that’s been linked to microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barr? syndrome in adults?
A: Absolutely. I’m certain of it. I’d bet a lot of money.
In the 1980s Ademola Fagbami from Nigeria came to my lab at the University of Hawaii with Zika virus and we did an experiment, which we published, that showed it can be enhanced in mononuclear phagocytes [a type of immune cell]. We know that it grows in those cells and that antibody can enhance it. Zika is actually genetically fairly close to the dengue viruses, which means a lot of surface proteins on Zika are identical to surface proteins on dengue. It absolutely would not surprise me to find that dengue antibodies enhance Zika infections and that this entire sweep of Zika across the Pacific and into South America has all been promoted and propelled by enhancement.
Q: What are the main unknowns about Zika?
A: Does it grow in primary human monocytes in vitro? If somebody dies can we find the virus in monocytes and macrophages in vivo? Those are the key things.
Q: What might be the mechanism behind Zika virus harming fetuses?
A: I think dengue antibody is complexing with Zika virus and the immune complex is infecting monocytes so you have a much higher amount of virus produced. Maybe above a certain concentration of virus you begin to get virus spilling over into placenta.
...
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/...de-5-years-max
By Jon CohenMar. 7, 2016 , 11:00 AM
snips
Q: Do you think an antibody enhancementlike feature with Zika is behind the severe disease that’s been linked to microcephaly in babies and Guillain-Barr? syndrome in adults?
A: Absolutely. I’m certain of it. I’d bet a lot of money.
In the 1980s Ademola Fagbami from Nigeria came to my lab at the University of Hawaii with Zika virus and we did an experiment, which we published, that showed it can be enhanced in mononuclear phagocytes [a type of immune cell]. We know that it grows in those cells and that antibody can enhance it. Zika is actually genetically fairly close to the dengue viruses, which means a lot of surface proteins on Zika are identical to surface proteins on dengue. It absolutely would not surprise me to find that dengue antibodies enhance Zika infections and that this entire sweep of Zika across the Pacific and into South America has all been promoted and propelled by enhancement.
Q: What are the main unknowns about Zika?
A: Does it grow in primary human monocytes in vitro? If somebody dies can we find the virus in monocytes and macrophages in vivo? Those are the key things.
Q: What might be the mechanism behind Zika virus harming fetuses?
A: I think dengue antibody is complexing with Zika virus and the immune complex is infecting monocytes so you have a much higher amount of virus produced. Maybe above a certain concentration of virus you begin to get virus spilling over into placenta.
...
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/...de-5-years-max
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