Distinct Zika responses

Two lineages of Zika virus exist, African and Asian; the latter is responsible for the present epidemic of mosquito-spread infections. In Nature Microbiology, Foo et al. assess the immune responses elicited by in vitro infection of human blood cells with Zika virus. Clinical isolates from both lineages infect CD14⁺ monocytes and 'preferentially' expand the non-classical CD14^loCD16⁺ cell subset. While the African Zika viruses induce expression of interferon-b and the chemokine CXCL10 and other 'M1 macrophage–like' expression patterns, the Asian Zika viruses induce interleukin 10 and an 'M2 macrophage–like' expression pattern. Such monocyte shifts and gene expression are further enhanced in monocytes obtained from pregnant women during their first trimester. Notably, Asian Zika viruses, but not African Zika viruses, induce expression of fibronectin-1 and the metallopeptidase ADAMTS14, both of which have been previously associated with pregnancy complications.

Nat. Microbiol. (21 August 2017) doi:10.1038/s41564-017-0016-3