Adaptation to host cell environment during experimental evolution of Zika virus.

Adaptation to host cell environment during experimental evolution of Zika virus.

Grass, V., Hardy, E., Kobert, K., Talemi, S.R., Décembre, E., Guy, C., Markov, P.V., Kohl, A., Paris, M., Böckmann, A., Muñoz-González, S., Sherry, L., Höfer, T., Boussau, B., and Dreux, M. Published in Communication Biology (2022)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03902-y

In this recent publication, Marlene Dreux’s team, and lead by Vincent Grass a former PhD student, defined how Zika virus can adapt to escape TLR3-mediated antiviral response, via serial passage in human cells. By RNAseq and by adapting CirSeq method to by-pass the error-prone limitation of sequensing protocol, they achieved to get the landsape of the viral evolution accross the entire genomes of the virus populations produced over time.

Importanly this study highlighted the S455L mutation in the glycoprotein E. Advanced bioinformatics, mathematical and structural modeling led them to conclude that the increased infectivity of evolved viral popultion outcompeted the antiviral responses, likely via enhanced membrane fusion process and/or E protein membrane incorporation.