Zika virus tagged posts

In this lab stain, the small orange-spotted cell on the far left shows a nerve cell infected with herpes virus in an animal model. Credit: Image courtesy of Seattle Children’s Hospital

Reseachers estimate 90% of the population have them. These strains, human herpes 6 and human herpes 7, usually do not cause severe symptoms when people acquire them. But researchers know that under certain circumstances, dormant herpes viruses in the body can unexpectedly come roaring back and cause complications not typically associated with herpes virus.”It’s common to find herpes virus in salivary glands of humans and animals,” Barcy said. “But we found herpes 7 in the nervous system of animal models, which was a surprise because that strain of herpes has not been detected in the nervous system before...

This visual abstract depicts the findings of Quicke et al., who demonstrate that a contemporary ZIKV strain infects and replicates in primary human placental macrophages and cytotrophoblasts, suggesting a route for ZIKV to cross the placental barrier. CREDIT Quicke and Bowen et al./Cell Host & Microbe 2016

One of Zika’s mysteries is how the virus passes from an infected mother, through the placenta, to a developing fetus. The route may not be direct either – transmission via multiple cell types may be necessary. A study supports the possibility that placental immune cells called Hofbauer cells, which have direct access to fetal blood vessels, are one cell type involved.

“One group has recently discovered viral antigen in Hofbauer cells collected from placental tissue of a fetus that unfort...

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...