The Structural Biology of the Zika Virus summarizes global research progress since the outbreak of the Zika virus.

Recently, The Cell sub-journal, the academic journal of biochemistry research, published online a summary article by Shi I and Gao Fu, researchers at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, entitled Structural Biology of the Zika Virus Structural Biology, which systematically summarizes the important advances made by global scientists in the field of structural biology of the Zika virus since the outbreak in 2015 and looks ahead to the future direction of research in this field.
the Zika virus was found in rhesus monkeys in Uganda's Zika jungle as early as 1947, but has not received much attention.
outbreak of the Zika virus in South America in 2015 did not make it a public health concern internationally.
, there have been cases of Zika virus infection in more than 80 countries and regions around the world, and imported cases of Zika virus infection in China in 2016.
zika virus is a insect-borne virus that, like dengue, Japanese and West Nile viruses, is mainly transmitted through mosquito-borne viruses, but current studies have shown that it can also be transmitted sexually.
zika virus infection can cause major diseases such as miscarriage, neonatal neonation glycephaly and Glyn-Barre syndrome, and the impact on human health should not be underestimated.
currently has effective clinical antiviral drugs.
face of this ancient and strange virus, scientists around the world have worked together to achieve fruitful results.
structural biology is of great significance in clarifying the infection mechanism of virus, developing vaccines and antibodies, revealing key drug target information and its mechanism of action.
A review co-authored by Shi I and Gao Fu provides a comprehensive overview of the progress made by scientists over the past two years in the study of the whole viral structure of the Zika virus, the structure of the E protein (Figure 1) and the complex structure of protective neutral antibodies with different mechanisms of action, laying the foundation for the virological research of the Zika virus and the development of vaccines and antibodies; The progress of structural research, which found that NS1 protein has special surface charge properties and new membrane binding region, provides a new way of thinking for the study of the pathogenic mechanism of NS1, summarizes the progress made in the study of the structure of important viral enzyme proteins NS2B-NS3 and NS5, reveals the conservative drug target information, and provides a structural basis for drug design.
Finally, the review analyzes the limitations of current structural biology studies, such as the fact that there are still five Zika virus protein structures that have not been parsed, that the assembly and replication mechanisms of virus replication centers are unclear, and that there is a lack of understanding of the structural basis for the host factor's involvement in regulating the viral infection process.
At the same time, the future research in this field has proposed directions, such as the molecular mechanism of the Zika virus through the human blood fetal barrier, the therapeutic effect and mechanism of targeting NS1 antibodies, and the evaluation of the therapeutic effect of small molecule inhibitors such as targeting NS3 and NS5.
review is another important achievement in the field of Zika virus research where microorganisms are located.
Gaofu has long been committed to the study of sudden infectious diseases, in the face of the serious situation of rapid spread of the Zika virus, quickly organized a research team, joint microbiology institute researcher Shi Yi, Yan Jinghua, China Agricultural University researcher Li Yandong, etc. to carry out in-depth research on the Zika virus, and achieved a series of results: in terms of viral protein structure, analysis of the first protein crystal structure of the Zika virus - non-structural protein NS1 C-end structure (Nat Struct Mol Biol, 2016, 23 (5): 456-458), and then analyze its full-length structure (EMBO J, 2016, 35 (20): 2170-2178), found that NS1 protein has a special surface charge properties and new membrane binding area, conducive to further understanding of the Zika virus NS1 protein mechanism and its effects on disease; Analysis of zika virus NS5 structure reveals its conservative drug action targets (EMBO J, 2017: DOI:10.15252/ embj.201696241); For the first time, the structure of the E protein on the surface of the Zika virus was analyzed, and the compound structure of the anti-2A10G6 and E proteins in a broad-spectrum protected mouse of the yellow virus was cracked, providing an important theoretical basis and research ideas for the treatment of the Zika virus (Cell Host Microbe, 2016, 19 (5): 696-704).
In terms of therapeutic antibodies, for the first time, three protective antibodies were isolated from patients recovering from the Zika virus and their protective mechanisms were parsed, two of which were highly effective and specific to block Zika virus infection, and are expected to be further developed into drugs that provide important antibody drug support for the prevention and treatment of the Zika virus in humans (Siccil Med, 2016, 8 (369): 369ra179).
In terms of infection mechanisms, reports that the Zika virus can cause testicular damage and eventually male infertility in mouse models reveal the mechanisms of clinical transmission of the Zika virus and call for high priority to be paid to the risks of the Zika virus to reproductive health (Cell, 2016, 167 (6): 1511-1524 e1510).
's research team put science and technology on the same page as science and technology innovation, and built a three-meter-high sculpture of a model of the Zika virus at shenzhen's Third People's Hospital (Figure 2) to concreteize the form of the Zika virus and give the public a more intuitive and clear understanding of the virus.
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