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Trimester-specific Zika virus infection affects placental responses in women

Lum, F. M.; Narang, V.; Hue, S.; Jie, C.; McGovern, N.; Rajarethinam, R.; Tan, J.; Amrun, S. N.; Chan, Y. H.; Lee, C. Y. P.; Chua, T. K.; Yee, W. X.; Yeo, N. K. W.; Tan, T. C.; Xuan, L.; Haldenby, S.; Leo, Y. S.; Ginhoux, F.; Chan, J.; Hiscox, J.; Chong, C. Y.; Ng, L.

2019-08-06 immunology
10.1101/727081 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy is associated with neurologic birth defects, but the effects on placental development are unclear. Full-term placentas from three women, each infected with ZIKV during specific pregnancy trimesters, were harvested for anatomic, immunologic and transcriptomic analysis. In this study, each woman exhibited a unique immune response, but they collectively diverged from healthy controls with raised IL-1RA, IP-10, EGF and RANTES expression, and neutrophil numbers during the acute infection phase. Although ZIKV NS3 antigens co-localized to placental Hofbauer cells, the placentas showed no anatomical defects. Transcriptomic analysis of samples from the placentas revealed that infection during trimester 1 caused a disparate cellular response centered on differential eIF2 signaling, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation. These findings should translate to improve clinical prenatal screening procedures for virus-infected pregnant patients.

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