Zika can be spread by infected mosquitos or through sexual intercourse.

In adults, the symptoms are

generally mild and include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. However, Zika virus can cause a
serious birth defect called microcephaly, and other severe neurological effects such as eye problems,
hearing loss, and impaired growth in infants born to women who contracted the virus when pregnant.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus linked to microcephaly and other neurological

problems in newborns of affected mothers directly infects the brain progenitor
cells destined to become neurons, UT Southwestern Medical Center
researchers report in a study published online in Cell Reports.

The team of researchers used a strain of Zika currently impacting the Americas, and found that the
virus infects about 20 percent of cells on average, evades immune system detection, and continues
to replicate for weeks.

"The cellular system we studied mirrors what pathologists are finding in the brain tissue of affected
infants and will be valuable for further understanding how Zika causes severe brain-related
problems. The system may also serve as a platform for testing new therapies targeting the virus,"
said Dr. John Schoggins, Assistant Professor of Microbiology at UT Southwestern and senior author
of the study.

Zika can be spread by infected mosquitos or through sexual intercourse. In adults, the symptoms are
generally mild and include fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. However, Zika virus can cause a
 serious birth defect called microcephaly, and other severe neurological effects such as eye problems,
hearing loss, and impaired growth in infants born to women who contracted the virus when pregnant,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC's website lists a series of unanswered questions about the virus that the World Health
Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern. The
unanswered questions include when during pregnancy the infection may harm the fetus and how the
virus affects individual pregnancies.

"There was a suggestion that the detrimental effects of the virus might be linked to its ability to infect
brain cells, specifically the progenitor cells that give rise to neurons," said Dr. Schoggins, a Nancy
Cain and Jeffrey A. Marcus Scholar in Medical Research, in Honor of Dr. Bill S. Vowell.

"We showed that neural progenitors can be infected by a strain of Zika virus that is currently infecting
people in the Americas," Dr. Schoggins said. "We found that the virus kills some neural progenitor
cells, but not all. Other cells survive the infection, and surprisingly, continue to replicate the virus for
many weeks. In addition, it appears that Zika virus does not stimulate much of an immune
response."

Story Source:

Materials provided by UT Southwestern Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.

Journal Reference:

1. Natasha W. Hanners, Jennifer L. Eitson, Noriyoshi Usui, R. Blake Richardson, Eric M.

Wexler, Genevieve Konopka, John W. Schoggins. Western Zika Virus in Human Fetal Neural
Progenitors Persists Long Term with Partial Cytopathic and Limited Immunogenic
Effects. Cell Reports, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.05.075
WASHINGTON: The mosquito-borne Zika virus, linked to serious birth
defects, avoids immune system detection and directly infects the brain cells
destined to become neurons, a new study has found.

Researchers used a strain of Zika currently impacting the Americas, and

found that the virus infects about 20 per cent of cells on average, evades
immune system detection, and continues to replicate for weeks.

"The cellular system we studied mirrors what pathologists are finding in the
brain tissue of affected infants and will be valuable for further understanding
of how Zika causes severe brain-related problems," said John Schoggins,
assistant professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre(UT
Southwestern) in the US.

"The system may also serve as a platform for testing new therapies targeting
the virus," said Schoggins.

Zika can be spread by infected mosquitoes or through sexual intercourse. In

adults, the symptoms are generally mild and include fever, rash, joint pain
and red eyes.

However, Zika virus can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly,
and other severe neurological effects such as eye problems, hearing loss,
and impaired growth in infants born to women who contracted the virus
when pregnant, researchers said.

"There was a suggestion that the detrimental effects of the virus might be
linked to its ability to infect brain cells, specifically the progenitor cells that
give rise to neurons," said Schoggins.
"We showed that neural progenitors can be infected by a strain of Zika virus
that is currently infecting people in the Americas," Schoggins said.

"We found that the virus kills some neural progenitor cells, but not all. Other
cells survive the infection, and surprisingly, continue to replicate the virus for
many weeks," he said.

"In addition, it appears that Zika virus does not stimulate much of an
immune response," he added.

The news about the Zika virus has accelerated this week. A newborn in the
Houston area tested positive for Zika-related microcephaly. Doctors are also
trying to figure out how an elderly Utah man was infected without transmission
through sex or mosquito bites. These developments come as a new study
from UT Southwestern Medical Center finds that Zika can infect brain cells
and hide itself from the immune system.

Dr. John Schoggins co-authored the study and explained its findings.

Listen
Listening...
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4:10
The KERA Radio interview.

Interview Highlights: John Schoggins...

... on the type of brain cell Zika infects:

"Brain progenitor cells are the cells in the brain that can eventually give rise to
different type of cells including adult neurons. When the virus infects these
brain cells, we found that there are a certain number of cells that die from the
infection - they literally round up and die. And then there is a number of cells
that survive the infection, but they continue to make more virus for long
periods of time, which we found to be quite interesting. We can actually detect
virus being made for many weeks after the initial infection."

... on how Zika might infect the placenta and cause birth defects in
newborns:"There is a relatively brand new study that came out this week
showing that there are certain cell types in the placenta that the virus is able to
infect directly, and what we think is happening is that it crosses those cells
through the placenta and then it gain access to the fetus."

... on how Zika evades the immune system:

"We looked for hallmarks of the immune response in these neural progenitors.
This would be induction of molecules that would cause sort of alarm to the
immune system, and we don't see those things being produced. However, if
you stimulate the cells with other types of things that would normally activate
the immune system, they appear to be capable of being activated but the virus
just doesn't do it."

... on the Zika case out of Utah:

"What we do know is that the person who was infected had really high levels
of virus in their blood, and so its formally possible that this was a simple
needle stick, maybe there was some sort of accidental needle stick if the
caregiver was doing some sort of treatment.

We know that the virus has been detected in saliva and urine and other bodily
fluids, so if there was a very high level of the virus in these fluids, then there
could have been some sort of transmission to a mucus membrane or cut in
the persons hands. There are definitely ways to think about how this could
have happened that aren't too surprising."

Dr. John Schoggins is a professor of microbiology with UT Southwestern

Medical Center