Autophagy is a common strategy for cell protection; however, some viruses can in turn adopt cellular autophagy to promote viral replication. Zika virus (ZIKV) is the pathogen that causes Zika viral disease, and it is a mosquito-borne virus. However, its pathogenesis, especially the interaction between ZIKV and target cells during the early stages of infection, is still unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that infecting human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) with ZIKV triggers cellular autophagy. We observed both an increase in the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II and increased accumulation of fluorescent cells with LC3 dots, which are considered to be the two key indicators of autophagy. The ratio of LC3-II/GAPDH in each group was significantly increased at different times after ZIKV infection at different MOIs, indicating that the production of lipidated LC3-II increased. Moreover, both the ratio of LC3-II/GAPDH and the expression of viral NS3 protein increased with increasing time of viral infection. The expression level of p62 decreased gradually from 12 h post-infection. Expression profile of double fluorescent protein labelling LC3 indicated that the autophagy induced by ZIKV infection was a complete process. We further investigated the role of autophagy in ZIKV replication. We demonstrated that either the treatment with inhibitors of autophagosomes formation or short hairpin RNA targeting the Beclin-1 gene, which is critical for the formation of autophagosomes, significantly reduced viral production. Taken together, our results indicate that ZIKV infection induces autophagy of HUVEC, and inhibition of ZIKV-induced autophagy restrains viral replication.

Zika virus (ZIKV) reemerged in 2016 and attracted much more attention worldwide. To date, the limited knowledge of ZIKV interactions with host cells in the early stages of infection impedes the prevention of viral epidemics and the treatment of ZIKV disease. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway plays an essential role in the regulation of autophagy and protein synthesis during multiple viral infections. This study aimed to investigate the functional role of mTOR signaling in ZIKV replication in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Immunoblotting demonstrated that ZIKV infection inhibited mTORC1 signaling, enhancing autophagy but obstructing protein translation. Drugs or siRNA for interfering with mTOR signaling molecules were utilized to demonstrate that AKT/TSC2/mTORC1 signaling was involved in ZIKV infection and that autophagy promoted ZIKV production, but viral protein expression was regulated by mTORC1 signaling. Moreover, confocal microscopy indicated a robust correlation between autophagy and viral RNA transcription. This study clarifies the dual functions of mTOR signaling during ZIKV infection and provides theoretical support for developing potential anti‐ZIKV drugs based on mTOR signaling molecules and deeper insights to better understand the mechanism between ZIKV and host cells.