scholarly journals Molecular Responses to the Zika Virus in Mosquitoes

Pathogens ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Alfonso-Parra ◽  
Frank Avila

The Zika virus (ZIKV), originally discovered in 1947, did not become a major concern until the virus swept across the Pacific and into the Americas in the last decade, bringing with it news of neurological complications and birth defects in ZIKV affected areas. This prompted researchers to dissect the molecular interactions between ZIKV and the mosquito vector in an attempt to better understand not only the changes that occur upon infection, but to also identify molecules that may potentially enhance or suppress a mosquito’s ability to become infected and/or transmit the virus. Here, we review what is currently known regarding ZIKV-mosquito molecular interactions, focusing on ZIKV infection of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, the primary species implicated in transmitting ZIKV during the recent outbreaks.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Martins ◽  
Luis Felipe Costa Ramos ◽  
Jimmy Rodriguez Murillo ◽  
André Torres ◽  
Stephanie Serafim de Carvalho ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTZika virus is a global public health emergency due to its association with microcephaly, Guillain-Barré syndrome, neuropathy, and myelitis in children and adults. A total of 87 countries have had evidence of autochthonous mosquito-borne transmission of Zika virus, distributed across four continents, and no antivirus therapy or vaccines are available. Therefore, several strategies have been developed to target the main mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti, to reduce the burden of different arboviruses. Among such strategies, the use of the maternally-inherited endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis has been applied successfully to reduce virus susceptibility and decrease transmission. However, the mechanisms by which Wolbachia orchestrate resistance to ZIKV infection remain to be elucidated. In this study, we apply isobaric labeling quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics to quantify proteins and identify pathways altered during ZIKV infection; Wolbachia infection; co-infection with Wolbachia/ZIKV in the Ae. aegypti heads and salivary glands. We show that Wolbachia regulates proteins involved in ROS production, regulates humoral immune response, and antioxidant production. The reduction of ZIKV polyprotein in the presence of Wolbachia in mosquitoes was determined by mass spectrometry and corroborates the idea that Wolbachia helps to block ZIKV infections in Ae. aegypti. The present study offers a rich resource of data that may help to elucidate mechanisms by which Wolbachia orchestrate resistance to ZIKV infection in Ae. aegypti, and represents a step further on the development of new targeted methods to detect and quantify ZIKV and Wolbachia directly in complex tissues.HighlightsThe abundance of ZIKV polyprotein is reduced in the presence of WolbachiaShotgun proteomics quantifies ZIKV and Wolbachia proteins directly in tissuesWolbachia regulates proteins involved in ROS productionWolbachia regulates humoral immune response and antioxidant productionMetabolism and detoxification processes were associated with mono infections


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayvan Etebari ◽  
Shivanand Hegde ◽  
Miguel A Saldaña ◽  
Steven G Widen ◽  
Thomas G Wood ◽  
...  

AbstractZika virus (ZIKV) of the Flaviviridae family is a recently emerged mosquito-borne virus that has been implicated in the surge of the number of microcephaly instances in South America. The recent rapid spread of the virus led to its declaration as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. The virus is transmitted mainly by the mosquito Aedes aegypti that also vectors dengue virus, however little is known about the interactions of the virus with the mosquito vector. In this study, we investigated the transcriptome profiles of whole Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in response to ZIKV infection at 2, 7, and 14 days post-infection using RNA-Seq. Results showed changes in the abundance of a large number of transcripts at each time point following infection, with 18 transcripts commonly changed among the three time points. Gene ontology analysis revealed that most of the altered genes are involved in metabolic process, cellular process and proteolysis. In addition, 486 long intergenic non-coding RNAs were identified that were altered upon ZIKV infection. Further, we found correlational changes of a number of potential mRNA target genes with that of altered host microRNAs. The outcomes provide a basic understanding of Ae. aegypti responses to ZIKV and helps to determine host factors involved in replication or mosquito host anti-viral response against the virus.ImportanceVector-borne viruses pose great risks on human health. Zika virus has recently emerged as a global threat, rapidly expanding its distribution. Understanding the interactions of the virus with mosquito vectors at the molecular level is vital for devising new approaches in inhibiting virus transmission. In this study, we embarked on analyzing the transcriptional response of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to Zika virus infection. Results showed large changes both in coding and long non-coding RNAs. Analysis of these genes showed similarities with other flaviviruses, including dengue virus, which is transmitted by the same mosquito vector. The outcomes provide a global picture of changes in the mosquito vector in response to Zika virus infection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S47-S47
Author(s):  
Anna Louise Funk ◽  
Bruno Hoen ◽  
Benoit Tressières ◽  
Ingrid Vingadassalom ◽  
Eustase Janky ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In the French Territories in the Americas (FTA), the risk of birth defects possibly associated with Zika virus (ZIKV) infection was estimated at 7% among fetuses/infants in a cohort of 546 women who developed a symptomatic RT-PCR confirmed ZIKV infection during pregnancy (NEJM 2018;378:985–94). There was no concomitant prospective cohort of pregnant women without ZIKV infection to use as a control group. Methods In Guadeloupe, one of the 3 FTAs that participated in the FTA cohort study, pregnant women were recruited at the time of delivery and tested for ZIKV infection. Women who had a confirmed negative IgG serology test for ZIKV at delivery and no other positive ZIKV test during pregnancy were considered to be ZIKV noninfected. Information on the course of the pregnancy was collected retrospectively and outcomes of live born infants of ZIKV noninfected women were analyzed, using the same definition criteria as those used for the FTA cohort study. Pregnancy outcomes were compared with those of the 241 ZIKV-exposed live born infants in Guadeloupe, extracted from the FTA cohort. Results Of the 490 live born infants without in-utero exposure to ZIKV, 42 infants (8.6%) had neurological abnormalities that were described as “potentially linked to ZIKV infection”; all but one of these were microcephaly without any other brain or clinical abnormalities. The proportion of such abnormalities was not statistically different from that observed in the 241 live born infants with ZIKV exposure (6.6%, P = 0.36). When re-considering the combined 8 fetuses and 241 infants of women with confirmed ZIKV infection in Guadeloupe from the FTA cohort, only two (0.8%) live born infants and three (1.2%) medically aborted fetuses had birth defects that could still be linked to ZIKV infection. Conclusion Isolated anthropometric and other mild neurological abnormalities had the same prevalence among live born infants with and without in utero ZIKV exposure. The high prevalence of isolated microcephaly among ZIKV noninfected women in our study population suggests that the sensitive definition for microcephaly, using a −2 SD cut-off with international growth curves, may lead to an overestimate of the rate of neurological complications of ZIKV infection during pregnancy. Disclosures All Authors: No reported Disclosures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Martins ◽  
Luis Felipe Costa Ramos ◽  
Jimmy Rodriguez Murillo ◽  
André Torres ◽  
Stephanie Serafim de Carvalho ◽  
...  

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a global public health emergency due to its association with microcephaly, Guillain-Barré syndrome, neuropathy, and myelitis in children and adults. A total of 87 countries have had evidence of autochthonous mosquito-borne transmission of ZIKV, distributed across four continents, and no antivirus therapy or vaccines are available. Therefore, several strategies have been developed to target the main mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti, to reduce the burden of different arboviruses. Among such strategies, the use of the maternally-inherited endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis has been applied successfully to reduce virus susceptibility and decrease transmission. However, the mechanisms by which Wolbachia orchestrate resistance to ZIKV infection remain to be elucidated. In this study, we apply isobaric labeling quantitative mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics to quantify proteins and identify pathways altered during ZIKV infection; Wolbachia infection; co-infection with Wolbachia/ZIKV in the A. aegypti heads and salivary glands. We show that Wolbachia regulates proteins involved in reactive oxygen species production, regulates humoral immune response, and antioxidant production. The reduction of ZIKV polyprotein in the presence of Wolbachia in mosquitoes was determined by MS and corroborates the idea that Wolbachia helps to block ZIKV infections in A. aegypti. The present study offers a rich resource of data that may help to elucidate mechanisms by which Wolbachia orchestrate resistance to ZIKV infection in A. aegypti, and represents a step further on the development of new targeted methods to detect and quantify ZIKV and Wolbachia directly in complex tissues.


Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchen Wang ◽  
Alejandro Marin-Lopez ◽  
Junjun Jiang ◽  
Michel Ledizet ◽  
Erol Fikrig

Zika Virus (ZIKV) is transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, resulting in asymptomatic infection, or acute illness with a fever and headache, or neurological complications, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome or fetal microcephaly. Previously, we determined that AgBR1, a mosquito salivary protein, induces inflammatory responses at the bite site, and that passive immunization with AgBR1 antiserum influences mosquito-transmitted ZIKV infection. Here, we show that the active immunization of mice with AgBR1 adjuvanted with aluminum hydroxide delays lethal mosquito-borne ZIKV infection, suggesting that AgBR1 may be used as part of a vaccine to combat ZIKV.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77
Author(s):  
Amos Watentena ◽  
Ikem Chris Okoye ◽  
Ikechukwu Eugene Onah ◽  
Onwude Cosmas Ogbonnaya ◽  
Emmanuel Ogudu

Mosquitoes of Aedes species are vectors of several arboviral diseases which continue to be a major public health problem in Nigeria. This study among other things, morphologically identified Aedes mosquitoes collected from Nsukka LGA and used an allele specific PCR amplification for discrimination of dengue vectors. Larval sampling, BG-sentinel traps and modified human landing catches were used for mosquito sampling in two selected autonomous communities of Nsukka LGA (Nsukka and Obimo). A total of 124 Aedes mosquitoes consisting of five (5) different species were collected from April to June, 2019 in a cross-sectional study that covered 126 households, under 76 distinct geographical coordinates. Larvae was mainly collected from plastic containers 73% (n=224), metallic containers 14% (n=43), earthen pots 9% (n=29) and used car tyres 3% (n=9), reared to adult stage 69.35% (n=86), and all mosquitoes were identified using standard morphological keys. Five (5) Aedes mosquito species were captured; Aedes aegypti 83(66.94%), Aedes albopictus 33(26.61%), Aedes simpsoni (4.48%), Aedes luteocephalus (≤1%) and Aedes vittatus (≤1%). Nsukka autonomous community had higher species diversity than Obimo. Allele specific amplification confirmed dengue vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus species on a 2% agarose gel. Since the most recent re-emergence of arboviral diseases is closely associated with Aedes species, findings of this study, therefore, give further evidence about the presence of potential arboviral vectors in Nigeria and describe the role of a simple PCR in discriminating some. Further entomological studies should integrate PCR assays in mosquito vector surveillance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
André Emanuel Dantas Mercês ◽  
Angela de Souza Cajuhi ◽  
Lorena Conceição Souza dos Santos ◽  
Rudval Souza da Silva ◽  
Cleuma Sueli Santos Suto ◽  
...  

O Zika vírus é um arbovírus transmitido pela picada dos mosquitos Aedes aegypti e Aedes albopictus infectados e apresentam como principais manifestações clínicas: febre aguda, exantema, prurido e conjuntivite. Em 2015 causou uma epidemia no Brasil, desencadeando casos de microcefalia em bebês cujas gestantes tiveram a febre da Zika. O Nordeste notificou o maior número de casos. Objetivou-se identificar, a partir de uma revisão integrativa, a relação entre a febre da Zika e a microcefalia. Trata-se de revisão integrativa, realizada a partir de buscas desenvolvidas nas bases de dados da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) e da Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) com publicações dos anos de 2015 e 2016, idiomas português e inglês. Foram encontradas 191 publicações, as quais passaram por um processo de leitura e análise quanto ao atendimento do objetivo e aplicação dos critérios de inclusão. Restaram oito publicações que integraram o corpus desta revisão. Os resultados apontam para uma relação de causa e efeito entre o contato das gestantes com o Zika vírus e o desenvolvimento de microcefalia em seus bebês. Necessita-se de maiores evidências que demonstrem os reais fatores envolvidos nesse processo, como os genéticos, ambientais e até mesmo interferência de outras infecções. Palavras-chave: Zika vírus. Microcefalia. Aplicações da epidemiologia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rommel J. Gestuveo ◽  
Jamie Royle ◽  
Claire L. Donald ◽  
Douglas J. Lamont ◽  
Edward C. Hutchinson ◽  
...  

AbstractThe escalating global prevalence of arboviral diseases emphasizes the need to improve our understanding of their biology. Research in this area has been hindered by the lack of molecular tools for studying virus-mosquito interactions. Here, we develop an Aedes aegypti cell line which stably expresses Zika virus (ZIKV) capsid proteins in order to study virus-vector protein-protein interactions through quantitative label-free proteomics. We identify 157 interactors and show that eight have potentially pro-viral activity during ZIKV infection in mosquito cells. Notably, silencing of transitional endoplasmic reticulum protein TER94 prevents ZIKV capsid degradation and significantly reduces viral replication. Similar results are observed if the TER94 ortholog (VCP) functioning is blocked with inhibitors in human cells. In addition, we show that an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, UBR5, mediates the interaction between TER94 and ZIKV capsid. Our study demonstrates a pro-viral function for TER94/VCP during ZIKV infection that is conserved between human and mosquito cells.


Insects ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Magalhaes ◽  
Alexis Robison ◽  
Michael Young ◽  
William Black ◽  
Brian Foy ◽  
...  

In urban settings, chikungunya, Zika, and dengue viruses are transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Since these viruses co-circulate in several regions, coinfection in humans and vectors may occur, and human coinfections have been frequently reported. Yet, little is known about the molecular aspects of virus interactions within hosts and how they contribute to arbovirus transmission dynamics. We have previously shown that Aedes aegypti exposed to chikungunya and Zika viruses in the same blood meal can become coinfected and transmit both viruses simultaneously. However, mosquitoes may also become coinfected by multiple, sequential feeds on single infected hosts. Therefore, we tested whether sequential infection with chikungunya and Zika viruses impacts mosquito vector competence. We exposed Ae. aegypti mosquitoes first to one virus and 7 days later to the other virus and compared infection, dissemination, and transmission rates between sequentially and single infected groups. We found that coinfection rates were high after sequential exposure and that mosquitoes were able to co-transmit both viruses. Surprisingly, chikungunya virus coinfection enhanced Zika virus transmission 7 days after the second blood meal. Our data demonstrate heterologous arbovirus synergism within mosquitoes, by unknown mechanisms, leading to enhancement of transmission under certain conditions.


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