flaviviruses tagged posts

A transmission electron micrograph image of the Zika virus. Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Scientists potentially have found a way to disrupt Zika and similar viruses from spreading in the body. A team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a single gene pathway that is vital for Zika and other flaviviruses to spread infection between cells. Further, they showed that shutting down a single gene in this pathway – in both human and insect cells – does not negatively affect the cells themselves and renders flaviviruses unable to leave the infected cell, curbing the spread of infection.

Michael Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S...

A representation of the surface of the Zika virus is shown. A team led by Purdue University researchers is the first to determine the structure of the Zika virus, which reveals insights critical to the development of effective antiviral treatments and vaccines. Credit: Purdue University image/courtesy of Kuhn and Rossmann research groups

The Purdue Uni team also identified regions within the Zika virus structure where it differs from other flaviviruses, the family of viruses to which Zika belongs that includes dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitic viruses...