Researchers in Brazil affiliated with the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), D'Or Institute and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) have identified molecular processes that may help explain microcephaly in babies born to mothers infected by the Zika virus. The research proposes a model at the molecular level to understand the complications caused by infection during pregnancy and paves the way to the identification of novel therapeutic targets.

According to an article on the study published in Molecular Neurobiology, the researchers conducted a proteomic analysis to detect protein expression alterations in infected cells.

They discovered that when Zika virus invades the fetal brain, it modulates energy production and controls the RNA metabolism expressed in cell nuclei. In the proposed model, these alterations interfere with the maturing of particles that act as precursors of oligodendrocytes—neural cells that produce myelin, a lipidic substance of vital importance to the exchange of information between neurons.

Read more...