GSE121534
Differentiation enhances Zika virus infection in neuronal brain cells
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging, mosquito-borne pathogen associated with a widespread 2015–2016 epidemic in the Western Hemisphere and a proven cause of microcephaly and other fetal brain defects in infants born to infected mothers. ZIKV infections have been also linked to other neurological illnesses in infected adults and children, including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and meningoencephalitis, but the viral pathophysiology behind those conditions remains poorly understood. Here we investigated ZIKV infectivity in neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, both undifferentiated and following differentiation with retinoic acid. We perform RNA seq, and global trancriptome analysis to corroborate the effect of retinoic acid in SH-SY5Y cells. Then we analyze the virus infection in differentiated and undifferntiated cells. We found that multiple ZIKV strains, representing both the prototype African and contemporary Asian epidemic lineages, were able to replicate in SH-SY5Y cells. Differentiation with resultant expression of mature neuron markers increased infectivity in these cells, and the extent of infectivity correlated with degree of differentiation.  Enhanced ZIKV infectivity in a neural cell line following differentiation may contribute to viral neuropathogenesis in the developing or mature central nervous system. Overall design: Analysis of Zika virus infection in one neuroblastoma cell line differentiated, or not with retinoic acid.