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Aberrant NAD+ metabolism underlies Zika virus–induced microcephaly

Nature Metabolism

August 12, 2021

Pang, Huan Huan

Summary

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy can cause microcephaly in newborns, yet the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Here, we reveal extensive and large-scale metabolic reprogramming events in ZIKV-infected mouse brains by performing a multi-omics study comprising transcriptomics, proteomics, phosphoproteomics and metabolomics approaches. Our proteomics and metabolomics analyses uncover dramatic alteration of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-related metabolic pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation, TCA cycle and tryptophan metabolism. Phosphoproteomics analysis indicates that MAPK and cyclic GMP–protein kinase G signaling may be associated with ZIKV-induced microcephaly. Notably, we demonstrate the utility of our rich multi-omics datasets with follow-up in vivo experiments, which confirm that boosting NAD+ by NAD+ or nicotinamide riboside supplementation alleviates cell death and increases cortex thickness in ZIKV-infected mouse brains. Nicotinamide riboside supplementation increases the brain and body weight as well as improves the survival in ZIKV-infected mice. Our study provides a comprehensive resource of biological data to support future investigations of ZIKV-induced microcephaly and demonstrates that metabolic alterations can be potentially exploited for developing therapeutic strategies.

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I am Shelly Albaum, and this is my personal website and blog. All the opinions presented here are my own. Nobody writes here but me. You can read more about me here. Cookies are not required to use this website. Read more about that here. 

Original work © 2022 by Right of Assembly

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IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

1. Health Supplements Are Not Medicines. Health Supplements that raise NAD levels, like nicotinamide riboside or other NAD precursors, are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

2. No Medical Advice. I am a lawyer and a journalist, not a doctor, and I offer no medical advice. But I do follow the science, and I can bring to your attention some interesting studies. You can read more about me here. And check with your physician -- your physician can look at this research, too.

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