Zika virus (ZIKV) is the cause of a significant viral disease affecting humans, which has spread throughout many South American countries and has also become a threat to Southeastern Asia. This commentary discusses the article “Crystal structure of unlinked NS2B-NS3 protease from Zika virus” published recently in the journal Science by Zhang et al. of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. They resolved a 1.58 Å resolution structure of the NS2B-NS3 protease of ZIKV and demonstrated how peptide and non-peptide inhibitors interact with this structure, along with the different conformational states that were observed. This protease crystal structure offers new opportunities for the design and development of novel antiviral drugs used for the treatment and control of ZIKV.
Ebola virus (EBV) is a deadly virus that has resulted in a number of deaths during its outbreaks in Africa in 2014–2016 and 2018–2019. This virus causes a hemorrhagic fever like other pathogenic viruses of the Filoviridae family with high mortality rate. The exact reservoir of the ebola virus is not known, but different mammal groups are the source from which it is transferred to the human population. The transmission among the human population is through body fluids of patients and also through aersol droplets in the air. The role of different glycoproteins in the budding formation has helped a lot in understanding the physiology of the ebola virus. Most of these viral glycoproteins synthesis and the replication enzymes offer a good inhibitory target for drug design against the ebola virus. Recently, different groups have claimed the development of a successful vaccine for the ebola virus. However, the availability of the vaccines to the poor population of Africa and other parts of the world is still not practical.
Zika virus is an arbovirus that is spreading at an alarming state in the American continents and now in Asian countries. The Aedes mosquitoes are the vectors for the spread of this virus beside other ways of transmission. Currently, there are no vaccines or drugs available for its treatment. The Zika virus-related microcephaly cases are reported in fetuses of pregnant women who got this viral infection. However, the exact mechanism of Zika virus and microcephaly is still not established. Here we review Zika virus epidemiology, its unusual relationship with microcephaly in fetuses and current scientific research progress on it.not favorable for Aedes mosquitos [35]. In such areas, blood and semen donations should be properly checked for the presence of Zika virus, and further, people coming from affected areas should take care when they donate blood and semen in unaffected areas [36].
Relation between Zika virus and microcephalyMicrocephaly is one of the associated medical effects of Zika virus infection in mothers with their new born babies [36][37][38][39][40]. In the past, cases of Zika virus with microcephaly were not that common, but in Brazil, it was observed that the rate of microcephaly is twenty times more, which is quite alarming and new cases are still emerging [41]. Zika virus has the capacity to cross the placental barrier and infect the fetus [42,43]. The infected mothers of these babies have rashes in the first and second trimesters [44]. Beside microcephaly, brain calcifications, cataracts and intraocular calcifications of eyes in fetuses are also reported [45]. In other cases, agyria, hydrocephalus and associated cortical displacement and mild focal inflammation are also present [46][47][48]. Similarly in another case in addition to the above-mentioned symptoms,
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