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Zika Virus Is Not Uniquely Stable at Physiological Temperatures Compared to Other Flaviviruses.

ABSTRACT: UNLABELLED:Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that has emerged as a global health threat due in part to its association with congenital abnormalities. Other globally relevant flaviviruses include dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV). High-resolution structures of ZIKV reveal many similarities to DENV and suggest some differences, including an extended glycan loop (D. Sirohi, Z. Chen, L. Sun, T. Klose, T. C. Pierson, et al., 352:467-470, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf5316) and unique interactions among envelope (E) protein residues that were proposed to confer increased virion stability and contribute mechanistically to the distinctive pathobiology of ZIKV (V. A. Kostyuchenko, E. X. Lim, S. Zhang, G. Fibriansah, T. S. Ng, et al., Nature 533:425-428, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature17994). However, in the latter study, virus stability was inferred by measuring the loss of infectivity following a short incubation period. Here, we rigorously assessed the relative stability of ZIKV, DENV, and WNV by measuring changes in infectivity following prolonged incubation at physiological temperatures. At 37°C, the half-life of ZIKV was approximately twice as long as the half-life of DENV (11.8 and 5.2 h, respectively) but shorter than that of WNV (17.7 h). Incubation at 40°C accelerated the loss of ZIKV infectivity. Increasing virion maturation efficiency modestly increased ZIKV stability, as observed previously with WNV and DENV. Finally, mutations at E residues predicted to confer increased stability to ZIKV did not affect virion half-life. Our results demonstrate that ZIKV is not uniquely stable relative to other flaviviruses, suggesting that its unique pathobiology is explained by an alternative mechanism. IMPORTANCE:Zika virus (ZIKV) belongs to the Flavivirus genus, which includes other clinically relevant mosquito-borne pathogens such as dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV). Historically, ZIKV infection was characterized by a self-limiting, mild disease, but recent outbreaks have been associated with severe clinical complications, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly, which are atypical of other flavivirus infections. Moreover, ZIKV has been detected in saliva, urine, and semen, and it may be sexually transmitted. Analysis of a high-resolution cryo-electron microscopic reconstruction of ZIKV hypothesized that the unusual stability of this virus contributes to its distinctive pathobiology. Here, we directly compared the stability of ZIKV to that of other flaviviruses following prolonged incubation in solution at physiological temperatures. We found that the stability of multiple ZIKV strains, including those from recent outbreaks, is intermediate between that of DENV and WNV, suggesting an alternative explanation for the unique clinical manifestations of ZIKV infection.

SUBMITTER: Goo L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5013301 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Zika Virus Is Not Uniquely Stable at Physiological Temperatures Compared to Other Flaviviruses.

Goo Leslie L Dowd Kimberly A KA Smith Alexander R Y AR Pelc Rebecca S RS DeMaso Christina R CR Pierson Theodore C TC

mBio 20160906 5

<h4>Unlabelled</h4>Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that has emerged as a global health threat due in part to its association with congenital abnormalities. Other globally relevant flaviviruses include dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV). High-resolution structures of ZIKV reveal many similarities to DENV and suggest some differences, including an extended glycan loop (D. Sirohi, Z. Chen, L. Sun, T. Klose, T. C. Pierson, et al., 352:467-470, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf ...[more]

PMID: 27601578

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Project description:BackgroundHealth authorities in the United States and Europe reported an increasing number of travel-associated episodes of sexual transmission of Zika virus (ZIKV) following the 2015-2017 ZIKV outbreak. This, and other scientific evidence, suggests that ZIKV is sexually transmissible in addition to having its primary mosquito-borne route. The objective of this systematic review and evidence synthesis was to clarify the epidemiology of sexually transmitted ZIKV.Methods and findingsWe performed a living (i.e., continually updated) systematic review of evidence published up to 15 April 2018 about sexual transmission of ZIKV and other arthropod-borne flaviviruses in humans and other animals. We defined 7 key elements of ZIKV sexual transmission for which we extracted data: (1) rectal and vaginal susceptibility to infection, (2) incubation period following sexual transmission, (3) serial interval between the onset of symptoms in a primary and secondary infected individuals, (4) duration of infectiousness, (5) reproduction number, (6) probability of transmission per sex act, and (7) transmission rate. We identified 1,227 unique publications and included 128, of which 77 presented data on humans and 51 presented data on animals. Laboratory experiments confirm that rectal and vaginal mucosae are susceptible to infection with ZIKV and that the testis serves as a reservoir for the virus in animal models. Sexual transmission was reported in 36 human couples: 34/36 of these involved male-to-female sexual transmission. The median serial symptom onset interval in 15 couples was 12 days (interquartile range: 10-14.5); the maximum was 44 days. We found evidence from 2 prospective cohorts that ZIKV RNA is present in human semen with a median duration of 34 days (95% CI: 28-41 days) and 35 days (no CI given) (low certainty of evidence, according to GRADE). Aggregated data about detection of ZIKV RNA from 37 case reports and case series indicate a median duration of detection of ZIKV of 40 days (95% CI: 30-49 days) and maximum duration of 370 days in semen. In human vaginal fluid, median duration was 14 days (95% CI: 7-20 days) and maximum duration was 37 days (very low certainty). Infectious virus in human semen was detected for a median duration of 12 days (95% CI: 1-21 days) and maximum of 69 days. Modelling studies indicate that the reproduction number is below 1 (very low certainty). Evidence was lacking to estimate the incubation period or the transmission rate. Evidence on sexual transmission of other flaviviruses was scarce. The certainty of the evidence is limited because of uncontrolled residual bias.ConclusionsThe living systematic review and sexual transmission framework allowed us to assess evidence about the risk of sexual transmission of ZIKV. ZIKV is more likely transmitted from men to women than from women to men. For other flaviviruses, evidence of sexual transmissibility is still absent. Taking into account all available data about the duration of detection of ZIKV in culture and from the serial interval, our findings suggest that the infectious period for sexual transmission of ZIKV is shorter than estimates from the earliest post-outbreak studies, which were based on reverse transcription PCR alone.

Project description:The Flavivirus genus comprises several human pathogens such as dengue virus (DENV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), and Zika virus (ZIKV). Although ZIKV usually causes mild symptoms, growing evidence is linking it to congenital birth defects and to increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome. ZIKV encodes a polyprotein that is processed to produce three structural and seven nonstructural (NS) proteins. We investigated the evolution of the viral polyprotein in ZIKV and in related flaviviruses (DENV, Spondweni virus, and Kedougou virus). After accounting for saturation issues, alignment uncertainties, and recombination, we found evidence of episodic positive selection on the branch that separates DENV from the other flaviviruses. NS1 emerged as the major selection target, and selected sites were located in immune epitopes or in functionally important protein regions. Three of these sites are located in an NS1 region that interacts with structural proteins and is essential for virion biogenesis. Analysis of the more recent evolutionary history of ZIKV lineages indicated that positive selection acted on NS5 and NS4B, this latter representing the preferential target. All selected sites were located in the N-terminal portion of NS4B, which inhibits interferon response. One of the positively selected sites (26M/I/T/V) in ZIKV also represents a selection target in sylvatic DENV2 isolates, and a nearby residue evolves adaptively in JEV. Two additional positively selected sites are within a protein region that interacts with host (e.g. STING) and viral (i.e. NS1, NS4A) proteins. Notably, mutations in the NS4B region of other flaviviruses modulate neurovirulence and/or neuroinvasiveness. These results suggest that the positively selected sites we identified modulate viral replication and contribute to immune evasion. These sites should be prioritized in future experimental studies. However, analyses herein detected no selective events associated to the spread of the Asian/American ZIKV lineage.

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Zika Virus Is Not Uniquely Stable at Physiological Temperatures Compared to Other Flaviviruses.

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Zika Virus Is Not Uniquely Stable at Physiological Temperatures Compared to Other Flaviviruses.

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