Study of the oncolytic effect of Zika Virus on cells in the central nervous system tumor micro-environment

Abstract

After causing an outbreak of microcephaly in Brazil, the Zika Virus (ZIKV) started to be studied for its tropism toward the Central Nervous System (CNS) and consequent implications for several neuronal deficits. In the developing brain, this virus preferentially infects neural progenitor cells, destroying them and damaging the neuronal progeny. In contrast, recent studies have shown that ZIKV has great oncogenic potential, being able to infect and destroy cells of aggressive CNS tumors, such as Glioblastoma and Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor. This is due to the presence of cells with characteristics similar to the neural stem cells in the tumor microenvironment. For these tumors, isolated in the CNS by the blood-brain barrier, there is still no effective treatment and patient survival after diagnosis is no more than 15 months. Thus, characterizing the effect of ZIKV on the tumor cell and the consequent immune response activation is of great clinical and social importance. This project aims to understand the tumor microenvironment infected by the ZIKV and its consequences for cells adjacent to the tumor - contributing to future therapy safety. (AU)