Extracellular acidosis enhances Zika virus infection both in human cells and ex-vivo tissue cultures from female reproductive tract
- Varese, Augusto
- Dantas, Ezequiel Carlos
- Paletta, Ana Luz
- Fitzgerald, W.
- Di Diego García, Facundo
- Cabrerizo, Gonzalo
- Erra Diaz, Fernando Alberto
- Defelipe, Lucas Alfredo
- Pallarés, Horacio Martín
- Dodes Traian, Martín Miguel
- Gamarnik, Andrea Vanesa
- Geffner, Jorge Raúl
- Remes Lenicov, Federico
- Margolis, L.
- Ceballos, Ana
DOIAbstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, but unlike other flaviviruses, ZIKV can be sexually transmitted by vaginal intercourse. The healthy vaginal pH ranges from 4.0 to 6.0, reaching values of 6.0–7.0 after semen deposition. Here, we report that low extracellular pH values (range 6.2–6.6) dramatically increase ZIKV infection on cell lines of different origin including some derived from the female genital tract and monocyte-derived macrophages. Furthermore, low pH significantly increased ZIKV infection of human ectocervix and endocervix cultured ex-vivo. Enhancement of infection by low pH was also observed using different ZIKV strains and distinct methods to evaluate viral infection, i.e. plaque assay...
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