Invited Talk: Zika Virus and its Antibody Complex Structures

ZIKV is a member of the family flaviviridae, other members in the same family are West Nile, dengue, yellow fever viruses. ZIKV was previously thought to cause only a mild febrile disease characterized by fever, rash, joint pain and red eye, in only 20% of the infected humans. However, in the recent outbreaks in South America and French Polynesia, reports of an increased incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in adults and microcephaly in foetuses associated with the disease sounded the global alarm. In addition to spreading by the bite of an infected mosquito, ZIKV can also be spread by sexual intercourse suggesting that the transmission could be faster than DENV. Therefore, there is an immediate need to develop therapeutics and vaccines. To produce a safe vaccine and therapeutics, more basic understanding of ZIKV is required. Here we will discuss the high resolution ZIKV structure and the development of antibody therapeutics and vaccine development using structural information obtained by cryo-electron microscopy.