virusevolution

[virusevolution]

StrainHub: A phylogenetic tool to construct pathogen transmission networks is available online at strainhub.io and the preprint can be accessed online at bioRxiv 

[virusevolution]

Could a small fish prompt a leap forward for Alzheimer’s disease research?

Using zebrafish models, researchers detected genes with altered levels of expression. The genetic variations were associated with abnormalities with mitochondrial function and the production of ATP.

[virusevolution]

Stopping the Gaps in Epidemic Preparedness

"A consolidated approach to combating viruses requires sustained investment. It is right and necessary to use public money to secure global public health, and yet there remains a shortfall in funds..."

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1902683

[virusevolution]

We are finally starting to see the results of the push for a shift to a more sustainable energy source.

[virusevolution]

Disease

Cholera - Mozambique

Officials declared a cholera outbreak in northern Mozambique on Thursday, a week after cyclone winds, floods and heavy rains hit the area.

Cyclone Kenneth crashed into the province of Cabo Delgado on Thursday last week, flattening entire villages with winds of up to 280 kph and killing at least 41 people.

Fourteen cases of cholera have been detected, 11 of which are in the port town of Pemba and three in the district of Mecufi.

Ebola - DR Congo

Kinshasa - More than 1 000 people have died from Ebola in the latest outbreak in Congo, the country’s health ministry said Friday. A ministry statement sent to dpa said 1,008 people have now died from the virus, while 1,529 cases have been recorded. The grim milestone comes as health care workers battle to contain the deadly disease amid attacks on their clinics and staff.

Plague - Mongolia

Health authorities in Mongolia are reporting two deaths in Ulgii district in westernmost Mongolia. Preliminary test results show that bubonic plague is the likely caused the deaths of the husband and wife, according to the Siberian Times. It is reported that the couple contracted the deadly infection after consuming infected marmot.

[virusevolution]

Musashi binding elements in Zika and related Flavivirus

Dr. Michael Wolfinger and I just published this week the paper "Musashi binding elements in Zika and related Flavivirus 3′UTRs: A comparative study in silico" at Nature’s journal Scientific Reports. In this publication, we discuss the affinity of Zika and related viruses to a protein called Musashi which is found in the brain and could be the link to explain the microcephaly cases observed in Brazil in the past epidemic. 

Click here to access the original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43390-5

Click here for an interview from the News Desk of UC San Diego Health:  https://ucsdhealthsciences.tumblr.com/post/184695389265/just-the-faqs-computational-modeling-reveals-zika

[virusevolution]

JUST THE FAQS: Computational Modeling Reveals Zika Virus’ Affinity for Brains

In 2015, a little-known mosquito-borne virus called Zika began making international headlines when it spread throughout Latin America. Thousands were infected, including pregnant women who subsequently gave birth to babies with microcephaly — a birth defect characterized by an undersized head and brain. Reports of Zika cases began appearing elsewhere, including the United States and San Diego County.

While that outbreak ended in 2017, research on the virus continues. In a study published May 6, 2019 in Scientific Reports, Adriano de Bernardi Schneider, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Michael T. Wolfinger, PhD, a researcher at the Theoretical Chemistry Department of the University of Vienna, helped unravel Zika virus’ affinity for the brain.

Schneider helps us break it down:

What was the motivation for this study?

While the Zika virus has been associated with congenital neurodegenerative disease — especially fetal microcephaly — the biological reasoning and mechanisms as to why the Zika virus has an affinity for the nervous system are still unknown.

Recent studies have suggested that a human protein called Musashi is involved in Zika’s connection to the human brain. The Musashi protein is typically expressed in neural stem cells and is required for brain development. Now we also know it’s involved in Zika virus replication.

With that in mind, we focused on understanding the theoretical model underlying the Zika virus binding with Musashi proteins, and expand the knowledge to other related viruses from the same group, known as Flavivirus. Flaviviruses include more than one hundred different virus species, many of them global threats transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks. Flavivirus outbreaks are frequently found in equatorial regions of the world and cause hundreds of thousands of infections in humans every year. The last Zika virus outbreak occurred in the Americas from 2015 to 2017.

What did you find?

Our findings showed that among the flaviviruses, Zika virus has the highest affinity for binding by the Musashi proteins. Moreover, we showed that other flaviviruses have a similar Musashi-binding potential, indicating that Zika may not be the only flavivirus that can cause this type of damage to the nervous system. We also established a theoretical model for the affinity of Musashi proteins to binding flaviviruses, and therefore enhancing their replication. This approach could be expanded to other viral families.

Left: Study co-authors Michael T. Wolfinger and Adriano de Bernardi Schneider present their work at a conference. Right: Zika virus structure, courtesy of the NIH.

What’s surprised you?

The fact that the affinity for Musashi proteins was highest for the Brazilian Zika virus isolates — though maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised by that, given that most Zika virus-related microcephaly cases in the 2015-2017 outbreak were reported in Brazil. We were also surprised that other flaviviruses seem to have a similar affinity for the brain, which might have been overlooked so far due to the lack of recent outbreaks.

What was (or continues to be) a challenge?

The current challenge is not only to understand what happened in the past, but what is coming next. Like Zika virus, we often have little to no information about a flavivirus when it suddenly emerges, creating a burden for the populations affected.

What’s next?

Now we plan to look into other viruses that affect fetal and newborn brains. Also, we need further wet laboratory studies that can test our hypothesis on relatively obscure viruses that we flagged as potentially affecting the brain, such as Nounané virus and Karshi virus.

- Heather Buschman, PhD