PULLMAN, WASHINGTON — Three new experiments studying how Zika affects a developing fetus could provide proof of a causal link between the outbreak in Brazil and the spate of birth defects in babies that followed.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the mosquito-borne Zika virus has been linked to a severe birth defect in babies called microcephaly, characterized by an abnormally small head.
Thus far, most research on the virus has focused on the damage it inflicts on newborns. Now, scientists are using mice to better understand how exactly Zika damages the brain.
A Washington State University research team found that the virus, when injected into pregnant mice, preferentially target the placenta, damaging it and using it to leak into the fetus.
Another study found that Zika virus cells tend to be attracted to cells in the brain. Once they've crossed the placenta, they travel to the brain and infect neural progenitor cells, responsible for building a significant portion of the brain. The virus turns these healthy cells into viral factories that keep producing the virus until they explode and in turn infect other cells. The lack of neural progenitor cells means the brain does not fully develop, according to NPR.
When the virus was directly injected into the brains of growing mice embryo, scientists discovered that they developed structural abnormalities in three to five days. The abnormalities were similar to those seen in babies with microcephaly.
The BBC reports that the findings from the three published studies are significant but not conclusive, since tests were done on mice and not on pregnant humans. Scientists believe further research, as well as testing on larger animals such as monkeys — which are more similar to humans — may be more helpful.
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