tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
WEDNESDAY, March 30, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they've discovered how the Zika virus might cause severe brain and eye birth defects.
The Zika outbreak in Brazil and other parts of Latin American and the Caribbean has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, which results in abnormally small heads and brains.
There has also been a rise in other brain and eye birth defects in countries affected by the Zika outbreak. But firm evidence of a link between the virus and these birth defects has been lacking.
In a new study, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), found that a protein the Zika virus uses to infect skin cells and cause a rash is also present in stem cells of the developing brain and retina of a fetus.
The so-called AXL protein sits on the surface of cells and can provide an entry point for Zika. Learning more about the link between Zika and AXL could lead to drugs to block Zika infection, according to the researchers.
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http://health.usnews.com/health-new...es-mechanism-between-zika-virus-birth-defects
The Zika outbreak in Brazil and other parts of Latin American and the Caribbean has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of babies born with microcephaly, which results in abnormally small heads and brains.
There has also been a rise in other brain and eye birth defects in countries affected by the Zika outbreak. But firm evidence of a link between the virus and these birth defects has been lacking.
In a new study, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), found that a protein the Zika virus uses to infect skin cells and cause a rash is also present in stem cells of the developing brain and retina of a fetus.
The so-called AXL protein sits on the surface of cells and can provide an entry point for Zika. Learning more about the link between Zika and AXL could lead to drugs to block Zika infection, according to the researchers.
...
http://health.usnews.com/health-new...es-mechanism-between-zika-virus-birth-defects