Laboratory of Biophysics and Nanosystems, Physics Department, Federal University of Maranhão, São Luís 65020070, Brazil.
Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60440900, Brazil.
Viruses. 2022 Aug 5;14(8):1727. doi: 10.3390/v14081727.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) from Flavivirus. In 2015, Brazil and other Latin American countries experienced an outbreak of ZIKV infections associated with severe neurological disorders such as Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), encephalopathy, and encephalitis. Here, a complete mechanical and structural analysis of the ZIKV has been performed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). AFM analysis corroborated the virus mean size (50 nm) and icosahedral geometry and revealed high mechanical resistance of both: the viral surface particle (200 kPa) and its internal content (~800 kPa). The analysis demonstrated the detailed organization of the nucleocapsid structure (such as RNA strips). An interesting finding was the discovery that ZIKV has no surface self-assembling property. These results can contribute to the development of future treatment candidates and circumscribe the magnitude of viral transmission.
Zika 病毒（ZIKV）是黄病毒科的一种虫媒病毒。2015 年，巴西和其他拉丁美洲国家爆发了与严重神经疾病相关的 ZIKV 感染，如格林-巴利综合征（GBS）、脑病和脑炎。在这里，我们使用原子力显微镜（AFM）对 ZIKV 进行了完整的机械和结构分析。AFM 分析证实了该病毒的平均大小（50nm）和二十面体几何形状，并揭示了病毒表面颗粒（200kPa）及其内部内容物（~800kPa）的高机械抗性。分析还显示了核衣壳结构（如 RNA 带）的详细组织。一个有趣的发现是，ZIKV 没有表面自组装特性。这些结果有助于开发未来的治疗候选药物，并限制病毒传播的程度。
