Antibody Treatment Lessens Zika’s Effects in Mice

When given to pregnant rodents, a human antibody against a viral envelope protein reduces fetal infection, scientists show.

kerry grens
| 1 min read

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WIKIMEDIA, MANUEL ALMAGRO RIVASA monoclonal antibody targeting a protein made by the Zika virus appears to protect adult and fetal mice from infection, according to a study published today (November 7) in Nature.

“This is proof of principle that Zika virus during pregnancy is treatable, and we already have a human antibody that treats it, at least in mice,” study coauthor Michael Diamond of Washington University in St. Louis told Reuters.

The researchers searched for monoclonal antibodies that could neutralize the Zika virus by studying serum from human survivors of infection. One in particular, called ZIKV-117, could block multiple strains of the virus in vitro, so they tested it out in mice.

Diamond’s group found that adult mice given the antibody were more likely to survive an infection, even if the treatment came after Zika exposure. And if pregnant mice received the antibody before or after Zika infection, fetuses were protected from some of the damage associated with ...

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Meet the Author

  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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