Lahon Anismrita, Arya Ravi P, Kneubehl Alexander R, Vogt Megan B, Dailey Garnes Natalie J M, Rico-Hesse Rebecca
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Integrative Molecular and Biological Science Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Sep 21;10(9):e0005019. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005019. eCollection 2016 Sep.
Zika virus (Flavivirus genus) is the first mosquito-borne virus known to cause high rates of microcephaly and abortion in humans. Typically, Zika virus causes a self-limiting, systemic illness; however, the current outbreak of Zika virus in the Americas has been associated with increased rates of fetal malformations and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Very few Zika virus isolates have been described in the literature, and live viruses are needed to perform studies of pathogenesis and to develop vaccines and treatments.
METHODOLOGY/CLINICAL FINDINGS: We isolated Zika virus, strain FLR, directly from the serum of an individual infected in Barranquilla, Colombia (December, 2015). Here, we describe the patient's clinical course and characterize strain FLR by its growth characteristics in mosquito and mammalian cells and its partial resistance to UV-inactivation. The full genome sequence of FLR was also analyzed (including the 3' un-translated region), to determine its probable geographic origin, and to pinpoint structural differences from other Zika virus strains.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We anticipate that the study of this low passage, clinical isolate of Zika virus, which is available for worldwide distribution, will help uncover the mechanisms of viral replication and host immune responses contributing to the varied and sometimes severe clinical presentations seen during the current epidemic in the Americas.
寨卡病毒（黄病毒属）是已知的第一种通过蚊子传播且可导致人类高比例小头畸形和流产的病毒。通常情况下，寨卡病毒会引发一种自限性的全身性疾病；然而，当前在美洲爆发的寨卡病毒疫情却与胎儿畸形率上升以及吉兰 - 巴雷综合征有关。文献中描述的寨卡病毒分离株极少，而进行发病机制研究以及开发疫苗和治疗方法都需要活病毒。
方法/临床发现：我们直接从一名2015年12月在哥伦比亚巴兰基亚感染的个体血清中分离出了寨卡病毒FLR株。在此，我们描述了该患者的临床病程，并通过其在蚊子和哺乳动物细胞中的生长特性以及对紫外线灭活的部分抗性来对FLR株进行特征描述。我们还分析了FLR的全基因组序列（包括3'非翻译区），以确定其可能的地理起源，并找出与其他寨卡病毒株的结构差异。
结论/意义：我们预计，对这种可供全球使用的低传代临床寨卡病毒分离株的研究，将有助于揭示病毒复制机制以及宿主免疫反应，这些机制导致了在当前美洲疫情期间出现的多样且有时严重的临床表现。
