PLoS ONE (Jan 2017)

Structural investigation of C6/36 and Vero cell cultures infected with a Brazilian Zika virus.

  • Debora Ferreira Barreto-Vieira,
  • Fernanda Cunha Jácome,
  • Marcos Alexandre Nunes da Silva,
  • Gabriela Cardoso Caldas,
  • Ana Maria Bispo de Filippis,
  • Patrícia Carvalho de Sequeira,
  • Elen Mello de Souza,
  • Audrien Alves Andrade,
  • Pedro Paulo de Abreu Manso,
  • Gisela Freitas Trindade,
  • Sheila Maria Barbosa Lima,
  • Ortrud Monika Barth

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184397
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 9
p. e0184397

Abstract

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Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the flavivirus genus, and its genome is approximately 10.8 kilobases of positive-strand RNA enclosed in a capsid and surrounded by a membrane. Studies on the replication dynamics of ZIKV are scarce, which limits the development of antiviral agents and vaccines directed against ZIKV. In this study, Aedes albopictus mosquito lineage cells (C6/36 cells) and African green monkey kidney epithelial cells (Vero cells) were inoculated with a ZIKV sample isolated from a Brazilian patient, and the infection was characterized by immunofluorescence staining, phase contrast light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and real-time RT-PCR. The infection was observed in both cell lineages, and ZIKV particles were observed inside lysosomes, the rough endoplasmic reticulum and viroplasm-like structures. The susceptibility of C6/36 and Vero cells to ZIKV infection was demonstrated. Moreover, this study showed that part of the replicative cycle may occur within viroplasm-like structures, which has not been previously demonstrated in other flaviviruses.