Chloroquine, an Endocytosis Blocking Agent, Inhibits Zika Virus Infection in Different Cell Models

Delvecchio, Rodrigo; Higa, Luiza M.; Pezzuto, Paula; Valadão, Ana Luiza; Garcez, Patrícia P.; Monteiro, Fábio L.; Loiola, Erick C.; Dias, André A.; Silva, Fábio J. M.; Aliota, Matthew T.; Caine, Elizabeth A.; Osorio, Jorge E.; Bellio, Maria; O’Connor, David H.; Rehen, Stevens; de Aguiar, Renato Santana; Savarino, Andrea; Campanati, Loraine; Tanuri, Amilcar

ZIKV strain MR 766 (Uganda/Africa, accession no.: NC012532.1, kindly provided by Dr. Davis Ferreira, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was isolated from a rhesus monkey and injected intracerebrally on Swiss mice for several passages [1] and ZIKV BR (Recife/Brazil, ZIKV PE/243, accession no: KX197192.1, kindly provided by Dr. Marli Tenório Cordeiro, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Recife, Brazil) was isolated from a patient presenting classical symptoms of ZIKV infection [28] . These viruses were propagated in Vero and C6/36 cells, respectively. Briefly, the cells were infected with ZIKV at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.01 and incubated at 37 • C. After 1 h, the inoculum was removed and replaced with DMEM high-glucose (Vero) and Leibovitz L-15 (C6/36) growth media supplemented with 2% FBS. After 4 to 6 days, the conditioned medium was harvested, centrifuged at 300× g, and sterile-filtered to remove cells and cellular debris. Virus stocks were stored at −80 • C.