Australian research yields potential Zika vaccine advances

A study conducted by Australia’s University of Queensland and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute recently uncovered the Zika virus’s evolutionary processes, allowing access to the genetic factors responsible for Zika’s dangerous spread.

The technique used in the study utilized something known as deep mutational scanning in conjunction with modeling. In so doing, they began to paint a picture of Zika’s paths, lending insight into its adaptations that have allowed it to adapt to the systems of both invertebrates (mosquitoes) and vertebrates (humans). Scientists also began to find ways to potentially strike back.

“We used deep mutational scanning to survey all of the possible amino acid mutations in what’s known as the envelope protein of the virus, which is responsible for how it binds with, enters and exits host cells,” Dr. Yin Xiang Setoh, of the UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, said. “We found two mutations that resulted in a virus that grew well in mosquito cells, but very poorly in mammalian cells, revealing the amino acids that are critical for Zika virus to survive in mammals.”

There is cause to believe this opens new doors the world of vaccine advancement as well.

“Using this rapid technique, we can now investigate how Zika virus can reach the placenta and cross into the foetus, and to isolate the viral genetic factors responsible,” Andreas Suhrbier, head of QIMR Berghofer’s Inflammation Biology lab, said. “This could help provide crucial knowledge for developing an effective Zika vaccine. Indeed, Zika virus that was engineered to contain the identified two mutations showed great potential as a vaccine.”

Such studies have built on years of work, but the technique could finally shed light on much more than it already has, helping scientists riddle out, genetically speaking, the virus replication and transmission undertaken by mosquitoes. Research into viruses similar to Zika could likewise benefit.

The study was published in the journal Nature Microbiology.