Fig. 2: Design and characterization of recombinant ZIKVs with African lineage-specific substitutions. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Design and characterization of recombinant ZIKVs with African lineage-specific substitutions.

From: A single amino acid substitution in the capsid protein of Zika virus contributes to a neurovirulent phenotype

Fig. 2

a Schematic of genomes of WT, mutant ZIKVs, and MR766. Locations of substitutions are indicated by red dots in the diagrams of the ZIKV genome. b Immunofluorescent assay (IFA) of BHK-21 cells transfected with equal amounts of RNAs of recombinant viruses. E protein expression was detected on days 1 to 3 post-transfection. Scale bars: 100 μm. c Plaque morphology of recombinant ZIKV mutant viruses in BHK-21 cells. d Measurement of plaque size in BHK-21 cells infected with indicated viruses. WT: n = 14; K101R: n = 16; V110I: n = 15; P148A: n = 12; I459V: n = 11; L728F: n = 14 (n, number of plaques). The data are shown as mean ± SD. Statistical significance was determined using two-tailed unpaired t test (****p < 0.0001; n.s. p > 0.05, not significant). The exact p values are: p < 0.0001 (K101R), p = 0.2885 (V110I), p = 0.0526 (P148A), p = 0.4413 (I459V), and p = 0.8037 (L728F). e Neurovirulence of ZIKV mutants in neonatal mice. CD-1 neonatal mice were i.c. inoculated with either 10 PFU of indicated viruses or PBS, and the mortality was observed for 21 days. WT: n = 21; K101R: n = 12; V110I: n = 13; V125I: n = 11; P148A: n = 11; I459V: n = 15; L728F: n = 13; PBS: n = 10 (n, number of mice). Statistical significance was determined using Log-rank test (***p < 0.001; n.s., p > 0.05, not significant). The exact p values are: p = 0.0005 (K101R), p = 0.9203 (V110I), p = 0.2072 (P148A), p = 0.2702 (I459V), and p = 0.2665 (L728F). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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