Zika virus induces myocardial immune response and myocarditis in mice

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Chongzhi Bai, Shanxi Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Shihua Li, Institute of Microbiology Chinese Academy of Sciences; Shen Song, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College; Qihui Wang, Institute of Microbiology Chinese Academy of Sciences; Hee Cho, Emory University; George Fu Gao, Institute of Microbiology Chinese Academy of Sciences; Yu Nie, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College; Pengcheng Han, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-11-01
• Publisher: Emory University Libraries
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2020.08.014
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology
• Volume: 148
• Start Page: 103
• End Page: 105
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Key Plan for Scientific Research and Development of China (2016YFD0500304), CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2016-I2M-1-015), CAS Youth Innovation Promotion Association (2018119) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81922044, 81621091).
• Keywords: Myocarditis; Zika Virus; Animals; Myocytes, Cardiac; Dilated cardiomyopathy; Myocardium; Mice; Heart; Zika virus (ZIKV); Cardiomyocytes; Immunity
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Biology, Microbiology; Health Sciences, Immunology; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

Many types of viral infections can involve the human cardiovascular, such as Coxsackievirus, parvovirus B19, adenovirus, influenza virus, human herpes virus, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) [1], and even severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is currently circulating worldwide [2]. Zika virus (ZIKV), a type of RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae and genus Flavivirus, was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in February 2016 by the World Health Organization due to the severe damage it causes to the nervous system. Recently, ZIKV was detected in heart tissue [3], but the pathophysiological processes of ZIKV causing cardiovascular implications are still unclear [4]. Here, we established a mouse model of ZIKV pathogenesis and found that ZIKV can directly infect cardiomyocytes, causing myocardial inflammation, myocarditis, and heart function impairment. Our findings provide evidence to understand the heart involvement in ZIKV-infected patients, which may be essential for protecting them from life-threatening complications.