Scientists Capture Zika in High Resolution

Article

The highest-resolution image yet of the Zika virus, or any enveloped virus thus far, appears June 26 in the journal Structure. The scientists, Madhumati Sevvana, Feng Long, Andrew S. Miller, Thomas Klose, Geeta Buda, Lei Sun, Richard J. Kuhn, and Michael G. Rossmann, used the latest electron microscopy techniques to see the atomic details of the Zika virus structure. They took advantage of Zika virus stability compared to its flavivirus cousins, such as dengue virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and yellow fever virus, allowing for a particularly accurate three-dimensional atomic model.

"With the higher resolution, it is now possible to efficiently design vaccines and engineer anti-viral compounds that inhibit the virus," says Michael G. Rossmann, a structural biologist at Purdue University.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Structure, Sevvana et al. "Refinement and Analysis of the Mature Zika Virus Cryo-EM Structure at 3.1 Å Resolution" http://www.cell.com/structure/fulltext/S0969-2126(18)30170-9

Source: Cell Press

Recent Videos
Infection Control Today's Infection Intel: Staying Ahead With Company Updates and Product Innovations.
COVID-19 presentations at IDWeek in Las Angeles, California by Invivyd.   (Adobe Stock 333039083 by Production Perig)
Long COVID and Other Post-Viral Syndromes
Meet Jenny Hayes, MSN, RN, CIC, CAIP, CASSPT.
Infection Control Today Editorial Advisory Board: Fibi Attia, MD, MPH, CIC.
Andrea Thomas, PhD, DVM, MSc, BSc, director of epidemiology at BlueDot
mpox   (Adobe Stock 924156809 by Andreas Prott)
Meet Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC.
Veterinary Infection Prevention
Related Content