The Zika virus uses tunnels to avoid immunity and spread

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An infection with Zika virus during pregnancy can lead to neurological disorders, fetal anomalies and too fetal death. So far, the virus manages to cross the placenta that promotes the developing fetus and has not been clear to a strong barrier against microbes and chemicals that could harm the fetus.

Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine with employees of the Pennsylvania State University Report in Natural communication A strategy that Zika virus uses to spread hidden in placenta cells and trigger little alarm in the immune system.

“The Zika virus, which is transferred by mosquitoes, triggers an epidemic in America that began in 2015 and had reached 30 million cases by 2018” Chairman Internal Medicine II, head of basic and translational research and professor of medicine- infectious diseases Baylor. “The understanding of how the Zika virus spreads through the human placenta and reaches the fetus is crucial to prevent or control this devastating state.”

The researchers discovered that the Zika virus builds underground tunnels, a number of tiny tubes, which are referred to as tunnel nano tubes and facilitate the transfer of viral particles to neighboring non -infected cells.

“We have found that the formation of these tiny tunnels is only driven by a Zika protein called NS1,” said the first author Dr. Rafael T. Michita, postdoctoral in the Mysorekar laboratory. “The exposure of placenta cells compared to the NS1 protein of the Zika virus triggers the tunneling. While the tunnels develop and connect neighboring cells, a path opens that the virus penetrates into new cells. “

“Zika is the only virus in his family, which includes Dengue and West -Nil viruses, whose NS1 protein triggers the formation of tunnels in several cell types,” said Michita. “Other viruses that do not context with Zika, such as HIV, herpes, influenza A and Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes covid-19, can also induce tiny tunnels in cells that infect and use the tunnels, to spread to non -infected cells. This is the first time that the Zika virus infection shows tunneling in placenta cells. “

Interestingly, the tiny lines formed a means of transporting virus particles, but also RNA, proteins and mitochondria, the main energy source of a cell, of infected in neighboring cells. “We suggest that the transportation of mitochondria through the tunnels can represent an energetic thrust for virus infected cells to promote virus replication,” said co-author Long B. Tran, doctoral student in the MySo-Kar laboratory.

“We also show that travel through the tiny tunnels may help to avoid Zika virus, the activation of large antiviral answers such as Interferon Lambda (IFN-Lambda) implements the placenta,” said Michita.

“Mutante Zika viruses that do not make tiny tunnels induce a robust antiviral IFN Lambda reaction, which may be able to restrict the spread of the virus.”

“Overall, we show that the Zika virus uses a tunnel strategy to spread the infection in the placenta hidden, while mitochondria increase the spread and survival. We suggest that this strategy also protects the virus from the immune response, ”said Mysorekar. “These results offer important findings that could be used for the development of therapeutic strategies against this stealth transmission mode.”

Reference: Michita RT, Tran LB, Bark SJ, et al. The Zika virus NS1 drives the tunneling nanor tube formation for mitochondrial transmission and stealth transmission in trophoblasts. Nat Commun. 2025; 16 (1): 1803. DOI: 10.1038/S41467-025-56927-2

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