Human antibody responses after dengue virus infection are

 highly cross-reactive to Zika virus

Lalita Priyamvada, Kendra M. Quicke, William H. Hudson, Nattawat Onlamoond, Jaturong Sewatanon, Srilatha Edupuganti, Kovit Pattanapanyasat, Kulkanya Chokephaibulkit, Mark J. Mulligan, Patrick C. Wilson, Rafi Ahmed, Mehul S. Suthar, and Jens Wrammert

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jul 12;113(28):7852-7

Speaker: Hsin-Hua Lu (盧信樺)                           Time: 15:00~16:00, Sep. 20, 2017

Commentator: Dr. Shu-Ying Wang (王淑鶯老師) Place: Room 601

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV) are both arboviruses belonging to the genus Flavivirus in family Flaviviridae, which consists of hundred viruses sharing similar homology in viral RNA genome and protein sequences. Besides the well-known microcephaly, ZIKV infection can also cause clinical symptoms close to dengue, such as fever and muscle pain. Since ZIKV shares a high degree of protein sequence and structural homology compared with DENV (1), immunological cross-reactivity may occur and the consequences may impact endemic area circulating these viruses. In this study, the authors assessed the cross-reactive immune responses between ZIKV and DENV because the recent outbreak areas of ZIKV are highly endemic for dengue (2). The authors tested acute and convalescent sera from nine Thailand patients with PCR confirmed DENV infection. By using virus-specific binding and neutralization assays, either sera from DENV-infected patients or are highly cross-reactive to ZIKV. Consistently, the monoclonal antibodies derived from DENV-induced plasmablasts are highly cross-reactive to ZIKV and vice versa. Both sera and mAbs from the dengue-infected patients enhanced ZIKV infection of Fc gamma receptor (FcγR)-bearing cells in vitro. Nearly half of the tested 47 DENV-reactive mAbs bound to both whole ZIKV virion and ZIKV lysate, of which a subset also neutralized ZIKV. This study provides important clues regarding the role of cross-reactive antibodies in protective immunity against ZIKV as well as their potential impact on ZIKV pathogenesis and disease severity in DENV-experienced areas.

References:

(1)   Sirohi D, et al. (2016) The 3.8 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of Zika virus. Science 352(6284):467–470.

(2)   Ioos S, et al. (2014) Current Zika virus epidemiology and recent epidemics. Med Mal Infect 44(7):302–307.