Scientists find link between birth defects and Zika virus

[Gert van der Hoek]

2016-03-04

Scientists on Friday said they had found the first evidence of a biological link between the Zika virus sweeping Latin America and microcephaly, a severe deformation of the brain among newborns.

Laboratory tests found that the virus targeted key cells involved in brain development and then destroyed or disabled them, they said.
The findings are the first concrete evidence of a link between the mosquito-borne virus and microcephaly, which until now had been circumstantial, said Guo-li Ming, a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering, and a co-leader of the research.

"Studies of foetuses and babies with the telltale small brains and heads of microcephaly in Zika-affected areas have found abnormalities in the cortex, and Zika virus has been found in the foetal tissue," he said in a statement.

Scientists exposed three types of human cells in a lab dish to the Zika virus, a method called in-vitro experiment.

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[Gert van der Hoek]

Published: March 4, 2016

Zika Virus Infects Human Cortical Neural Progenitors and Attenuates Their Growth


In summary, our results fill a major gap in our knowledge about ZIKV biology and serve as an entry point to establish a mechanistic link between ZIKV and microcephaly. Our study also provides a tractable experimental system for modeling the impact of ZIKV on neural development and for investigating underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. Of equal importance, our hNPC model and robust cellular phenotype comprise a readily scalable platform for high-throughput screens to prevent ZIKV infection of hNPCs and to ameliorate its pathological effects during neural development.

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