Flaviviruses are vector-borne RNA viruses that can emerge unexpectedly in human populations and cause a spectrum of potentially severe diseases including hepatitis, vascular shock syndrome, ...encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, congenital abnormalities and fetal death. This epidemiological pattern has occurred numerous times during the last 70 years, including epidemics of dengue virus and West Nile virus, and the most recent explosive epidemic of Zika virus in the Americas. Flaviviruses are now globally distributed and infect up to 400 million people annually. Of significant concern, outbreaks of other less well-characterized flaviviruses have been reported in humans and animals in different regions of the world. The potential for these viruses to sustain epidemic transmission among humans is poorly understood. In this Review, we discuss the basic biology of flaviviruses, their infectious cycles, the diseases they cause and underlying host immune responses to infection. We describe flaviviruses that represent an established ongoing threat to global health and those that have recently emerged in new populations to cause significant disease. We also provide examples of lesser-known flaviviruses that circulate in restricted areas of the world but have the potential to emerge more broadly in human populations. Finally, we discuss how an understanding of the epidemiology, biology, structure and immunity of flaviviruses can inform the rapid development of countermeasures to treat or prevent human infections as they emerge.
Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-transmitted RNA virus that infects an estimated 390 million humans each year. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of the biology of DENV and ...describe knowledge gaps that have impacted the development of effective vaccines and therapeutics.
Dengue virus infects nearly 400 million humans each year. Recent insights into the disease have driven the development of vaccines and therapeutics.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that has emerged as a global health threat because of its potential to generate explosive epidemics and ability to cause congenital disease in ...the context of infection during pregnancy. Whereas much is known about the biology of related flaviviruses, the unique features of ZIKV pathogenesis, including infection of the fetus, persistence in immune-privileged sites and sexual transmission, have presented new challenges. The rapid development of cell culture and animal models has facilitated a new appreciation of ZIKV biology. This knowledge has created opportunities for the development of countermeasures, including multiple ZIKV vaccine candidates, which are advancing through clinical trials. Here we describe the recent advances that have led to a new understanding of the causes and consequences of the ZIKV epidemic.
The recent rapid spread of Zika virus and its unexpected linkage to birth defects and an autoimmune neurological syndrome have generated worldwide concern. Zika virus is a flavivirus like the dengue, ...yellow fever, and West Nile viruses. We present the 3.8 angstrom resolution structure of mature Zika virus, determined by cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The structure of Zika virus is similar to other known flavivirus structures, except for the ~10 amino acids that surround the Asn¹⁵⁴ glycosylation site in each of the 180 envelope glycoproteins that make up the icosahedral shell. The carbohydrate moiety associated with this residue, which is recognizable in the cryo-EM electron density, may function as an attachment site of the virus to host cells. This region varies not only among Zika virus strains but also in other flaviviruses, which suggests that differences in this region may influence virus transmission and disease.
The rapid emergence of a highly pathogenic, readily transmissible coronavirus has resulted in a global pandemic, affecting millions and destabilizing economies. This catastrophe triggered a clarion ...call for the immediate deployment of a protective vaccine. We describe the unique challenges of developing a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in a pandemic setting.
Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently emerged as a pandemic associated with severe neuropathology in newborns and adults. There are no ZIKV-specific treatments or preventatives. Therefore, the development ...of a safe and effective vaccine is a high priority. Messenger RNA (mRNA) has emerged as a versatile and highly effective platform to deliver vaccine antigens and therapeutic proteins. Here we demonstrate that a single low-dose intradermal immunization with lipid-nanoparticle-encapsulated nucleoside-modified mRNA (mRNA-LNP) encoding the pre-membrane and envelope glycoproteins of a strain from the ZIKV outbreak in 2013 elicited potent and durable neutralizing antibody responses in mice and non-human primates. Immunization with 30 μg of nucleoside-modified ZIKV mRNA-LNP protected mice against ZIKV challenges at 2 weeks or 5 months after vaccination, and a single dose of 50 μg was sufficient to protect non-human primates against a challenge at 5 weeks after vaccination. These data demonstrate that nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNP elicits rapid and durable protective immunity and therefore represents a new and promising vaccine candidate for the global fight against ZIKV.
The emergence of Zika virus in the Americas and Caribbean created an urgent need for vaccines to reduce transmission and prevent disease, particularly the devastating neurodevelopmental defects that ...occur in utero. Rapid advances in Zika immunity and the development of vaccine candidates provide cautious optimism that preventive measures are possible.
The emergence of Zika has created an urgent need for vaccines to reduce transmission and prevent disease, particularly the devastating neurodevelopmental defects that occur in utero.
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy has emerged as a global public health problem because of its ability to cause severe congenital disease. Here, we developed six mouse monoclonal ...antibodies (mAbs) against ZIKV including four (ZV-48, ZV-54, ZV-64, and ZV-67) that were ZIKV specific and neutralized infection of African, Asian, and American strains to varying degrees. X-ray crystallographic and competition binding analyses of Fab fragments and scFvs defined three spatially distinct epitopes in DIII of the envelope protein corresponding to the lateral ridge (ZV-54 and ZV-67), C-C’ loop (ZV-48 and ZV-64), and ABDE sheet (ZV-2) regions. In vivo passive transfer studies revealed protective activity of DIII-lateral ridge specific neutralizing mAbs in a mouse model of ZIKV infection. Our results suggest that DIII is targeted by multiple type-specific antibodies with distinct neutralizing activity, which provides a path for developing prophylactic antibodies for use in pregnancy or designing epitope-specific vaccines against ZIKV.
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•New ZIKV-specific monoclonal antibodies are identified•Three distinct epitopes on E protein DIII are defined by X-ray crystallography•DIII lateral ridge antibodies broadly neutralize ZIKV infection and protect in mice
A panel of Zika virus-specific monoclonal antibodies are developed that can neutralize infection of the African, Asian, and American strains. Of these, antibodies that target the lateral ridge epitope in the DIII region of the viral E protein can confer in vivo protection in an animal model of infection and may represent a path for development of prophylactic or therapeutic antibodies in pregnancy or vaccines against Zika virus.
Recent epidemics of Zika virus (ZIKV) have been associated with congenital malformation during pregnancy and Guillain-Barré syndrome. There are two ZIKV lineages (African and Asian) that share >95% ...amino acid identity. Little is known regarding the ability of neutralizing antibodies elicited against one lineage to protect against the other. We investigated the breadth of the neutralizing antibody response following ZIKV infection by measuring the sensitivity of six ZIKV strains to neutralization by ZIKV-confirmed convalescent human serum or plasma samples. Contemporary Asian and early African ZIKV strains were similarly sensitive to neutralization regardless of the cellular source of virus. Furthermore, mouse immune serum generated after infection with African or Asian ZIKV strains was capable of neutralizing homologous and heterologous ZIKV strains equivalently. Because our study only defines a single ZIKV serotype, vaccine candidates eliciting robust neutralizing antibody responses should inhibit infection of both ZIKV lineages, including strains circulating in the Americas.
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•Neutralization studies with convalescent ZIKV-immune sera identify a single serotype•Infection with a single ZIKV strain elicits broadly neutralizing antibodies•Strain selection may not be a critical parameter for ZIKV vaccine development
Dowd et al. investigate the breadth of the neutralizing antibody response to ZIKV. They demonstrate that contemporary South American, Asian, and early African ZIKV strains are similarly sensitive to neutralization by ZIKV-confirmed convalescent human serum.
The structural flexibility or 'breathing' of the envelope (E) protein of flaviviruses allows virions to sample an ensemble of conformations at equilibrium. The molecular basis and functional ...consequences of virus conformational dynamics are poorly understood. Here, we identified a single mutation at residue 198 (T198F) of the West Nile virus (WNV) E protein domain I-II hinge that regulates virus breathing. The T198F mutation resulted in a ~70-fold increase in sensitivity to neutralization by a monoclonal antibody targeting a cryptic epitope in the fusion loop. Increased exposure of this otherwise poorly accessible fusion loop epitope was accompanied by reduced virus stability in solution at physiological temperatures. Introduction of a mutation at the analogous residue of dengue virus (DENV), but not Zika virus (ZIKV), E protein also increased accessibility of the cryptic fusion loop epitope and decreased virus stability in solution, suggesting that this residue modulates the structural ensembles sampled by distinct flaviviruses at equilibrium in a context dependent manner. Although the T198F mutation did not substantially impair WNV growth kinetics in vitro, studies in mice revealed attenuation of WNV T198F infection. Overall, our study provides insight into the molecular basis and the in vitro and in vivo consequences of flavivirus breathing.