Zika virus impairs growth in human neurospheres and brain organoids

https://peerj.com/preprints/1817/

 

Cell Biology

Developmental Biology

Neuroscience

 

Patricia P Garcez1,2, Erick C Loiola2, Rodrigo F Madeiro da Costa2, Luiza Higa3, Pablo Trindade2, Rodrigo Delvecchio3, Juliana M Nascimento2,4, Rodrigo M Brindeiro3,Almicar Tanuri3, Stevens K Rehen1,2

 

1Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ,Brazil

2D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

3Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

4Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology / Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil

DOI

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1817v1

Published

2016-03-02

Accepted

2016-03-02

Subject Areas

Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Neuroscience

Keywords

zika virus, cerebral organoids, cell death, microcephaly, stem cells

Edited March 4, 201610 yr by niman

Abstract

 

 

Since the emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV), reports of microcephaly have increased dramatically in Brazil; however, causality between the widespread epidemic and malformations in fetal brains has not been confirmed. Here, we examine the effects of ZIKV infection in human neural stem cells growing as neurospheres and cerebral organoids. Using immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy, we show that ZIKV targets human brain cells, reducing their viability and growth as neurospheres and cerebral organoids. These results suggest that ZIKV abrogates neurogenesis during human brain development.

 

Zika virus impairs growth in human neurospheres and brain organoids

1. Patricia P. Garcez1,2,*, 
2. Erick Correia Loiola2,†, 
3. Rodrigo Madeiro da Costa2,†,
4. Luiza M. Higa3,†, 
5. Pablo Trindade2,†, 
6. Rodrigo Delvecchio3, 
7. Juliana Minardi Nascimento2,4, 
8. Rodrigo Brindeiro3, 
9. Amilcar Tanuri3, 
10. Stevens K. Rehen2,1,*

+ Author Affiliations

1. ↵*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] (P.P.G.); [email protected](S.K.R.)

1. ↵† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Science  10 Apr 2016:

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf6116

 

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2016/04/08/science.aaf6116.full