Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2018 | Short paper
Zika virus crosses an in vitro human blood brain barrier model
Authors:
Judie B. Alimonti, Maria Ribecco-Lutkiewicz, Caroline Sodja, Anna Jezierski, Danica B. Stanimirovic, Qing Liu, Arsalan S. Haqqani, Wayne Conlan, Mahmud Bani-Yaghoub
Published in:
Fluids and Barriers of the CNS
|
Issue 1/2018
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Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus that is highly neurotropic causing congenital abnormalities and neurological damage to the central nervous systems (CNS). In this study, we used a human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived blood brain barrier (BBB) model to demonstrate that ZIKV can infect brain endothelial cells (i-BECs) without compromising the BBB barrier integrity or permeability. Although no disruption to the BBB was observed post-infection, ZIKV particles were released on the abluminal side of the BBB model and infected underlying iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells (i-NPs). AXL, a putative ZIKV cellular entry receptor, was also highly expressed in ZIKV-susceptible i-BEC and i-NPs. This iPSC-derived BBB model can help elucidate the mechanism by which ZIKV can infect BECs, cross the BBB and gain access to the CNS.