{"id":187,"date":"2017-03-01T20:05:08","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T20:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/?p=187"},"modified":"2023-03-07T16:37:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T16:37:07","slug":"purdue-university-scientists-map-evolution-of-zika-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/purdue-university-scientists-map-evolution-zika-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"Purdue University Scientists Map Evolution Of Zika Virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Table of Contents<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

I. Introduction<\/strong>
\nII. Mapping the Evolution of Zika Virus<\/strong>
\nIII. Reshuffling and Infectiousness of Zika Virus<\/strong>
\nIV. Cryo-electron Microscopy<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Description of the technique and its use in structural biology
\n\u2022 Advantages over X-ray crystallography
\nV. Zika Virus and its Impact<\/strong>
\nVI. Conclusion<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Significance of the study in understanding Zika virus evolution
\n\u2022 Implications for future research and potential treatment options.<\/p>\n

\n

In a paper published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology<\/span>, the scientists of Purdue University have mapped the evolution of Zika virus<\/a> in two distinct phases using a technique called cryo-electron microscopy<\/span>. It is understood that the virus particles form bridges to the surrounding membrane layers. As the virus particles reshuffle, the bridges disappear effectively clearing the path for propagation.\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a significant development in understanding Zika virus as this the first instance scientists have seen such rearrangement in the core of a flavivirus<\/span>. Dengue<\/a>, west Nile and yellow fever<\/a> are part of the flavivirus<\/span> group which is also expected to exhibit similar traits<\/span> during their evolution.<\/p>\n

The researchers believe the reshuffling helps the Zika virus become infectious and also contemplate if blocking reorganization could stall the virus from becoming infectious. The image contains three-headed protein spikes and the layers outside the membrane (aqua) that encloses the core. Outside the membrane, it easy to identify the surface protein called envelope along with proteins<\/span> that help the virus enter the cells.<\/p>\n

Cryo-electron microscopy<\/span> is a type of transmission electron microscopy<\/span> where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures and is mainly used in structural biology. Significantly, the technique allows observation of cellular components that are not stained anyway, unlike X-ray crystallography<\/span> that requires crystallizing specimen. Crystallization can occasionally lead to irrelevant and irreversible conformational changes in the cellular components.<\/p>\n

The Zika virus is mainly a mosquito-borne illness and is largely associated with fetal birth defect microcephaly<\/span>. The condition results in brain damage and abnormally small head born to mothers infected during pregnancy. In addition, the virus is also found to cause autoimmune<\/span> disorder Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome which leads to paralysis.<\/p>\n

The Nature Structural & Molecular Biology<\/span> paper was authored by Mangala Prasad; staff scientist Andrew S. Miller; assistant research scientist Thomas Klose; former doctoral student Devika Sirohi; laboratory manager Geeta Buda; Wen Jiang, a professor of biological sciences and chemistry; Kuhn; and Rossmann.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Mapping the Evolution of Zika Virus III. Reshuffling and Infectiousness of Zika Virus IV. Cryo-electron Microscopy \u2022 Description of the technique and its use in structural biology \u2022 Advantages over X-ray crystallography V. Zika Virus and its Impact VI. Conclusion \u2022 Significance of the study in understanding Zika virus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybiosource.com\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}