Zika virus blocks the neuron road

Written with Amy Rosenfeld, Ph.D. By infecting organotypic brain slice cultures from embryonic mice, we have shown that Zika virus has always been neurotropic. The same culture system provides information on how Zika virus infection of the developing brain might lead to microcephaly. The small heads observed in microcephalic children reflect a physically smaller brain – specifically, the neocortex is thinner than in a normal brain. The neocortex, only found in mammals, is the largest part of the cerebral cortex of the brain. It is composed of six distinct layers of neurons, which is established during embryonic development (illustrated below). First, glial cells originating from progenitor cells in the ventricular zone extend their processes throughout the cortex and anchor at the pia, the outer surface of the brain. These long fibers provide a scaffold on which neurons, produced from the same progenitor cells, migrate outwards to establish the six layers of the cortex. Movies have been made that show the migration of neurons on glial fibers, and they are amazing. The glial fibers are visible as parallel tracks in our embryonic brain slice cultures stained with an antibody to vimentin, a protein component of the fibers (image below, left panel). When embryonic brain slice cultures were infected with Zika virus, the structure of the glial tracks was altered. Instead of parallel tracks, the fibers assumed a twisted morphology that would not allow neurons to travel from t...
Source: virology blog - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Basic virology Information cortex glial cell microcephaly neocortex neuronal migration organotypic brain slice culture vimentin viral virus viruses zika virus Source Type: blogs