Grant Award Details
To develop a candidate treatment for Zika virus infection and neuroprotection efficacy
Progress Reports
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Grant Application Details
- A treatment for Zika virus infection and neuroprotection efficacy
Research Objective
We propose to determine the impact of the Zika virus during human neurodevelopment and to test a FDA-approved therapeutic candidate to treat Zika infection.
Impact
A drug to treat/cure Zika infection and for neuroprotection.
Major Proposed Activities
- To determine the molecular and cellular alterations caused by the Zika virus in the human developing brain and to validate a potential treatment for Zika infection.
- To re-purpose a therapeutic drug to treat Zika infection and for neuroprotection using in vivo models.
- To prepare and organize a clinical trial for Zika infection in a target population using a repurposed FDA-approved anti-viral drug.
The recent outbreak of Zika virus prompted the WHO to declare a public health emergency of international concern due to the link between infected pregnant women and microcephalic babies. The virus is spreading quickly and cases of Zika was already reported in California. This proposal will test a FDA-approved drug repurposed to neutralize the virus deleterious consequences in human brain cells. The experiments are designed to learn about the long-term consequences of the virus infection.
Publications
- Semin Cell Dev Biol (2022) Brain organoids, consciousness, ethics and moral status. (PubMed: 35339359)
- Cell Res (2020) Three-dimensional bioprinted glioblastoma microenvironments model cellular dependencies and immune interactions. (PubMed: 32499560)
- Cell Stem Cell (2019) Complex Oscillatory Waves Emerging from Cortical Organoids Model Early Human Brain Network Development. (PubMed: 31474560)
- Physiology (Bethesda) (2019) Brain Organoids as Tools for Modeling Human Neurodevelopmental Disorders. (PubMed: 31389776)
- Semin Cell Dev Biol (2019) Brain organoids as a model system for human neurodevelopment and disease. (PubMed: 30904636)
- Elife (2019) Species-specific maturation profiles of human, chimpanzee and bonobo neural cells. (PubMed: 30730291)
- Trends Mol Med (2018) Brain Organoids and the Study of Neurodevelopment. (PubMed: 30377071)
- Sci Rep (2018) Blocking Zika virus vertical transmission. (PubMed: 29352135)
- Sci Rep (2017) Repurposing of the anti-malaria drug chloroquine for Zika Virus treatment and prophylaxis. (PubMed: 29150641)
- Hum Mol Genet (2017) Modeling neuro-immune interactions during Zika virus infection. (PubMed: 29048558)