Zika virus pathogenesis and current therapeutic advances

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arthropod-borne flavivirus that, upon infection, results in teratogenic effects and neurological disorders. ZIKV infections pose serious global public health concerns, prompting scientists to increase research on antivirals and vaccines against the virus. These efforts are still ongoing as the pathogenesis and immune evasion mechanisms of ZIKV have not yet been fully elaborated. Currently, no specific vaccines or drugs have been approved for ZIKV; however, some are undergoing clinical trials. Notably, several strategies have been used to develop antivirals, including drugs that target viral and host proteins. Additionally, drug repurposing is preferred since it is less costly and takes less time than other strategies because the drugs used have already been approved for human use. Likewise, different platforms have been evaluated for the design of vaccines, including DNA, mRNA, peptide, protein, viral vectors, virus-like particles (VLPSs), inactivated-virus, and live-attenuated virus vaccines. These vaccines have been shown to induce specific humoral and cellular immune responses and reduce viremia and viral RNA both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, most of these vaccines have entered clinical trials. Understanding the viral disease mechanism will provide better strategies for developing therapeutic agents against ZIKV. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the viral pathogenesis of ZIKV and current advancements in the development of vaccines and drugs against this virus.

Keywords: Antivirals; pathogenesis; sfRNAs; therapeutics; vaccines; zika virus.

Graphical abstract

Figure 1.

The biology of ZIKV, showing the transmission modes, tropism, and disease symptoms associated with ZIKV

Figure 2.

Subgenomic flaviviral RNA location and its roles in pathogenesis. (a) ZIKV genome scheme showing the location of sfRNA at the 3ʹUTR. (b) sfRNA pathogenic functions in arthropod and vector hosts. (a) and (b) are reproduced with permission and minor modifications from Slonchak and Khromykn [78]