Cell Host & Microbe
Volume 19, Issue 5, 11 May 2016, Pages 705-712
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Short Article
Type III Interferons Produced by Human Placental Trophoblasts Confer Protection against Zika Virus Infection

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2016.03.008Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Zika virus infects placental cell lines but not primary human trophoblast (PHT) cells

  • PHT cells constitutively release the anti-viral type III interferon IFNλ1

  • IFNλ1 acts in an autocrine and paracrine manner to protect cells from Zika virus

Summary

During mammalian pregnancy, the placenta acts as a barrier between the maternal and fetal compartments. The recently observed association between Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during human pregnancy and fetal microcephaly and other anomalies suggests that ZIKV may bypass the placenta to reach the fetus. This led us to investigate ZIKV infection of primary human trophoblasts (PHTs), which are the barrier cells of the placenta. We discovered that PHT cells from full-term placentas are refractory to ZIKV infection. In addition, medium from uninfected PHT cells protects non-placental cells from ZIKV infection. PHT cells constitutively release the type III interferon (IFN) IFNλ1, which functions in both a paracrine and autocrine manner to protect trophoblast and non-trophoblast cells from ZIKV infection. Our data suggest that for ZIKV to access the fetal compartment, it must evade restriction by trophoblast-derived IFNλ1 and other trophoblast-specific antiviral factors and/or use alternative strategies to cross the placental barrier.

Keywords

virus
Zika virus
placenta
trophoblasts
type III interferon
IFNλ

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