Zika virus productively infects primary human placenta-specific macrophages
Kellie Ann Jurado, … , Seth Guller, Erol Fikrig
Kellie Ann Jurado, … , Seth Guller, Erol Fikrig
Published August 18, 2016
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2016;1(13):e88461. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.88461.
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Categories: Research Article Reproductive biology Virology

Zika virus productively infects primary human placenta-specific macrophages

Abstract

The strong association of Zika virus infection with congenital defects has led to questions of how a flavivirus is capable of crossing the placental barrier to reach the fetal brain. Here, we demonstrate permissive Zika virus infection of primary human placental macrophages, commonly referred to as Hofbauer cells, and placental villous fibroblasts. We also demonstrate Zika virus infection of Hofbauer cells within the context of the tissue ex vivo using term placental villous explants. In addition to amplifying infectious virus within a usually inaccessible area, the putative migratory activities of Hofbauer cells may aid in dissemination of Zika virus to the fetal brain. Understanding the susceptibility of placenta-specific cell types will aid future work around and understanding of Zika virus–associated pregnancy complications.

Authors

Kellie Ann Jurado, Michael K. Simoni, Zhonghua Tang, Ryuta Uraki, Jesse Hwang, Sarah Householder, Mingjie Wu, Brett D. Lindenbach, Vikki M. Abrahams, Seth Guller, Erol Fikrig

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Figure 1

Primary human placental-specific macrophages and fibroblasts are permissive to ZIKV infection.

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Primary human placental-specific macrophages and fibroblasts are permiss...
(A) The indicated primary placental cells and Vero cell line were infected with ZIKVCAM, ZIKVMEX, and ZIKVMR766 for 48 hours (MOI of 1), fixed, and stained with mouse monoclonal anti-ZIKV E (4G2). Data are shown as the percentage of positive ZIKV E cells relative to the total number of nuclei (as determined by DAPI) of an average of 3 biological replicates (± SD) from 3 separate placenta preparations. (B) Representative immunofluorescence images of ZIKV-infected Hofbauer cells at ×20 magnification. Infected cells were costained with anti-ZIKV E and anti-CD163 (host rabbit). (C) Viral growth kinetics of the indicated cells that were infected with an MOI of 1. Two hours after infection, cells were washed twice in PBS and fresh medium was applied. Quantitative PCR analysis was performed 2, 24, 48, and 72 hours after infection. Data are presented as the log relative expression of ZIKV RNA over GAPDH (average ± SD, n = 3). (D) Collected supernatants at 48 hours from C were assessed for the presence of infectious virus via plaque assays. Data are presented as log PFU/ml of supernatant (average ± SD, n = 3).