Zika virus propagation and release in human fetal astrocytes can be suppressed by neutral sphingomyelinase-2 inhibitor GW4869.

ABSTRACT: Zika virus (ZIKV) is a neurotrophic flavivirus that is capable of infecting humans, leading to brain abnormalities during fetal development. The ZIKV infectivity in neural target cells remains poorly understood. Here, we found that ZIKV specifically infected glial fibrillary acidic protein- and S100B-positive primary human astrocytes derived from fetal brains. In contrast, neuron-specific Class III β-tubulin (TuJ1)-positive neurons in the astrocyte cultures and SOX2-positive neural progenitor cells derived from the fetal brains were less susceptible to ZIKV infection compared with astrocytes. The infected astrocytes released competent viral particles and manifested programmed cell death with a progressive cytopathic effect. Interestingly, ZIKV infection in human fetal astrocytes induced a

SUBMITTER: Huang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5913238 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature