• Effect of antibody-dependent e...

*Result*: Effect of antibody-dependent enhancement on the development of the offspring of mice infected by Zika virus: Analysis of the brain transcriptome.

Title:
Effect of antibody-dependent enhancement on the development of the offspring of mice infected by Zika virus: Analysis of the brain transcriptome.
Authors:
Azevedo LMS; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Microbiology, Host Microorganism Interaction Laboratory, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil., Rios DL; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Microbiology, Host Microorganism Interaction Laboratory, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil., Diniz LNA; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Microbiology, Host Microorganism Interaction Laboratory, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil., de Oliveira SN; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Microbiology, Host Microorganism Interaction Laboratory, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil., Teixeira CF; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Microbiology, Host Microorganism Interaction Laboratory, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil., Teixeira DC; The University of Texas Medical Branch, UTMB, United States., Camargos VN; The University of Texas Medical Branch, UTMB, United States., Teixeira AL; Neuropsychiatry Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical Houston, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States., Soriani F; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Center for Research and Development of Drugs at the Institute of Biological Sciences at UFMG, Brazil., Teixeira MM; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Center for Research and Development of Drugs at the Institute of Biological Sciences at UFMG, Brazil., Costa VV; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Center for Research and Development of Drugs at the Institute of Biological Sciences at UFMG, Brazil; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Center for Research and Development of Drugs at the Institute of Biological Sciences at UFMG, Arboviral Diseases Research Group, Department of Morphology, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil., Souza DG; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Microbiology, Host Microorganism Interaction Laboratory, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: souzadg@gmail.com.
Source:
Microbial pathogenesis [Microb Pathog] 2026 Mar; Vol. 212, pp. 108292. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jan 10.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Academic Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8606191 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1096-1208 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 08824010 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Microb Pathog Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Original Publication: London ; Orlando : Academic Press, c1986-
MeSH Terms:
Zika Virus Infection*/immunology , Zika Virus Infection*/virology , Zika Virus*/immunology , Zika Virus*/pathogenicity , Brain*/virology , Brain*/metabolism , Brain*/pathology , Antibodies, Viral*/immunology , Transcriptome* , Antibody-Dependent Enhancement*, Animals ; Mice ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Disease Models, Animal ; Pregnancy
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: Antibody-dependent enhancement; Transcriptome; Zika virus
Substance Nomenclature:
0 (Antibodies, Viral)
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20260112 Date Completed: 20260202 Latest Revision: 20260202
Update Code:
20260203
DOI:
10.1016/j.micpath.2026.108292
PMID:
41525911
Database:
MEDLINE

*Further Information*

*Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus associated with neurological complications such as neonatal microcephaly and fetal anomalies, collectively referred to as congenital Zika syndrome. In the context of co-circulation with other arboviruses, it remains unclear whether pre-infection with a virus could be a risk factor for increased severity of ZIKV-induced disease. Here, we aimed to investigate whether there is differential gene expression in offspring of ZIKV-infected mothers pretreated with panflavivirus (4G2) at subneutralizing concentrations. Twelve weeks after birth, the offspring of these mothers were euthanized and their cerebral cortex was sampled for transcriptome analysis. Subsequently, the major differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were validated by RT-qPCR. Our results show that ZIKV infection induced fewer DEGs compared to the uninfected group, with the main findings being a suppression of genes related to cell cycle and morphogenesis. However, genes related to activation of the immune response and production of inflammatory mediators were preferentially expressed in the offspring of 4G2-treated mice compared to infected mice. Suppression of cellular and morphological processes was also observed, supporting ZIKV pathogenesis, particularly in the developing nervous system. The genetic and metabolic changes observed by transcriptomic analysis are therefore consistent with the more severe phenotypic observations in adult mice in previous studies. Our results contribute to the understanding of the severity of congenital ZIKV infection in the context of cross-reactivity of antibodies against other flaviviruses.
(Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)*

*Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.*