Cellular Targets and Receptor of Sexual Transmission of Zika Virus

Study Question: What is the mechanism of sexual transmission of Zika virus (ZIKV)? Summary Answer: By utilizing exquisite reverse transcriptase–initiated in situ polymerase chain reaction (RT-in situ PCR), which enables an improved visualization of spermatozoa’s subcellular compartment, we precisely localized the mid-piece of sperm that carry receptors for ZIKV. What is Already Known: ZIKV is transmitted sexually and recent studies have verified ZIKV presence in semen of previously Zika-infected patients for>6-month postinfection when ZIKV had disappeared from blood, saliva, and urine. Strong serial analyses of various body fluids suggest that ZIKV can be transmitted between sexual partners. Currently, there is limited information on the association of the virus with human semen cell types that may carry the virus. Study Design, Size, Duration: Analyses were carried out to localize ZIKV for subcellular localization of ZIKV on cell types. The Tyro3 receptor for ZIKV was colocalized by dual immunocytochemistry with specific monoclonal antibodies. Participants/Materials, Setting, Methods: Three semen specimens were purchased from a commercial sperm bank. Motile sperm was separated from nonmotile cells by the “swim-up” technique. Each of the semen fractions was infected with ZIKV at the multiplicity of infection of 0.1.0 and 1.0 and evaluated for the primary targets of ZIKV in the semen cells by RT-in situ PCR and confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Main Results...
Source: Applied Immunohistochemistry and Molecular Morphology - Category: Chemistry Tags: Research Articles Source Type: research