Zika is an emerging mosquito-borne virus for which there are no
vaccines or specific therapeutics. Zika virus infection during pregnancy has been linked to a range of birth defects including microcephaly.
A panel of small molecules that inhibit Zika virus infection,
including one that stands out as a potent inhibitor of Zika viral entry
into relevant human cell types, was discovered by researchers from the
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Zika Fever
Zika virus is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes which causes mild fever with maculopapular rash. No treatment or vaccine is currently available.
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‘Nanchangmycin is a potent inhibitor of Zika virus entry across all cell types tested, including endothelial and placental cells, which are relevant to how Zika may enter the fetus.’
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Publishing in Cell Reports this week, a team led by Sara Cherry, an associate professor of Microbiology, screened a library of 2,000 bioactive compounds for their ability to block Zika virus infection in three distinct cell types using two strains of the virus.
The team used cells lining brain
capillaries called endothelium, and cells from placenta, which represent
Zika's route across the blood-brain barrier and the transmission path
from mother to child, respectively. The third type - a human
osteosarcoma cell line - is a generic model cell. They tested a strain
of Zika virus currently circulating in human populations in the Americas
and another from Africa, which is the original strain identified in
1947.
![Pregnant Australian Woman Tests Positive For Zika Virus]( "Pregnant Australian Woman Tests Positive For Zika Virus")
A pregnant woman from Queensland, Australia has been diagnosed with Zika virus after returning from a country where the virus is prevalent.
Using a microscopy-based assay, they identified 38 molecules from the High-throughput Screening Core at Penn, which Cherry directs, that inhibited Zika virus infection in at least one cell type. Roughly half of the 2,000 molecules tested include FDA-approved molecules used to prevent viral replication in infected cells. Co-author David Schultz, the Core's technical director, was instrumental in providing the infrastructure and expertise for this multi-level screen.
"Overall, the most important finding is that we identified nanchangmycin as a potent inhibitor of Zika virus entry across all cell types tested, including endothelial and placental cells, which are relevant to how Zika may enter the fetus," Cherry said. Nanchangmycin - an antimicrobial indentified in China as part of a natural medicinal products survey - was also active against other medically relevant viruses, including West Nile, dengue, and chikungunya that use a similar route of entry as Zika.
These viruses enter cells using "clatherin endocytosis." The virus binds with the host cell's outer membrane via a pocket lined with a protein called clatherin. This protein-lined sac containing the sequestered virus pinches off to move deeper into the cytoplasm of the cell where the virus enters to replicate.
Nanchangmycin is a "stepping stone to a new class of anti-virals," Cherry said, because it thwarts this essential mode of entry by viruses like Zika. Future studies will identify the target of this drug and current studies are testing the efficacy of nanchangmycin in animal models of Zika virus infection
Source: Eurekalert
Pregnant Australian Woman Tests Positive For Zika Virus
A pregnant woman from Queensland, Australia has been diagnosed with Zika virus after returning from a country where the virus is prevalent.
Advertisement
Using a microscopy-based assay, they identified 38 molecules from the High-throughput Screening Core at Penn, which Cherry directs, that inhibited Zika virus infection in at least one cell type. Roughly half of the 2,000 molecules tested include FDA-approved molecules used to prevent viral replication in infected cells. Co-author David Schultz, the Core's technical director, was instrumental in providing the infrastructure and expertise for this multi-level screen.
"Overall, the most important finding is that we identified nanchangmycin as a potent inhibitor of Zika virus entry across all cell types tested, including endothelial and placental cells, which are relevant to how Zika may enter the fetus," Cherry said. Nanchangmycin - an antimicrobial indentified in China as part of a natural medicinal products survey - was also active against other medically relevant viruses, including West Nile, dengue, and chikungunya that use a similar route of entry as Zika.
These viruses enter cells using "clatherin endocytosis." The virus binds with the host cell's outer membrane via a pocket lined with a protein called clatherin. This protein-lined sac containing the sequestered virus pinches off to move deeper into the cytoplasm of the cell where the virus enters to replicate.
Nanchangmycin is a "stepping stone to a new class of anti-virals," Cherry said, because it thwarts this essential mode of entry by viruses like Zika. Future studies will identify the target of this drug and current studies are testing the efficacy of nanchangmycin in animal models of Zika virus infection
Source: Eurekalert
Brazil Had Just Notched Up a Tiny Victory Against Zika
Teams of naval personnel and sanitation staff went house to house, garden to garden, flower pot to flower pot to destroy the Zika-transmitting mosquito larvae.
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 Colombia Sees a Spike in Guillain-Barre Syndrome Amid Zika CasesMore than 22,600 cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in Colombia, which is seeing a sharp increase in a rare neurological disorder linked to the disease. | Advertisement
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