Zika virus (ZIKV) infection can cause devastating effects in pregnant individuals leading to miscarriages and birth defects. Research has mostly concentrated on infection via the placenta; however, as ZIKV can be sexually transmitted, it is possible that infection could occur prior to embryo implantation. Now, Jennifer Watts and Amy Ralston focus on the impact of ZIKV infection in preimplantation mouse embryos and dissect lineage-specific effects. They find that in the absence of the zona pellucida (ZP), the thick glycoprotein coat that surround the embryo prior to ‘hatching’, ZIKV infects all three lineages of the blastocyst. The authors identify that ZIKV-infected blastocysts have fewer cells, with a greater impact on the primitive endoderm than the epiblast, and that the infection also interferes with trophectoderm fate. In embryos with intact ZP, viability is unaffected if infection occurs at the eight-cell stage but is dramatically reduced if infection occurs at the two-cell stage, indicating that the protective ability of the ZP is stage specific. Together, these data show the importance of considering sexual transmission as a route of fetal ZIKV infection and provide a framework for future ex vivo experiments in human embryos.
Zika virus infection during early embryogenesis
Zika virus infection during early embryogenesis. Development 15 July 2022; 149 (14): e149_e1404. doi:
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