Key Points:
- A normally weak antibody is showing success in the neutralization of the Zika virus.
- Research was done in Brazil with pregnant people, as they often pass on the disease and its debilitating effects to their fetuses.
- A collaboration of top scientists is looking into testing the antibody in additional preclinical models centered around fetus transmission.
A team of researchers has identified an unusual type of antibody that—even at miniscule levels—neutralizes the Zika virus and renders the virus infection undetectable in preclinical models.
Zika is currently circulating at low levels in many tropical countries, but that will inevitably change. At this point, doctors have no approved vaccines or treatments to offer patients. With further research, this antibody has the potential to help fill that gap.
During a Zika outbreak that began in 2015, researchers in Brazil collected blood samples from infected pregnant people. The team decided to focus on those who were infected with Zika, but had given birth to babies that appeared healthy, because they suspected these patients might harbor antibodies capable of preventing the congenital infection.
One of these patients gave birth to an apparently healthy baby even after having Zika detectable in their blood for nearly two months, an unusually long period. Researchers found that their B cells produced an IgM antibody with a potent ability to prevent viral particles from invading cells.
The identity of this antibody, called DH1017.IgM, surprised the investigators because it belongs to a typically weaker, less mature type of antibody that is produced early in an infection. However, in this case, the potent function of this antibody depended on it being an IgM antibody. When the collaborators examined its molecular structure when binding to the virus, they found that multiple arms could latch onto a viral particle simultaneously. The findings suggest that IgM antibodies might be especially effective to protect against Zika virus and possibly other viruses.
To develop the antibody into a therapy, the researchers plan to begin testing its safety and how effectively it can prevent transmission to a fetus in additional preclinical models.
“The important thing is that we’ve got to be ready for another outbreak of Zika,” said senior study author Sallie Permar, chair of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Pregnant people are the exact population that needs vaccines or immunotherapies for Zika. It’s crucial to get anti-Zika vaccines and therapies that are safe in pregnancy rolled out as soon as there is evidence of an outbreak.”
Information provided by Weill Cornell Medicine.