Endoplasmic reticulum: a focal point of Zika virus infection

Mohd Ropidi, Muhammad Izzuddin; Khazali, Ahmad Suhail; Nor Rashid, Nurshamimi; Yusof, Rohana

The subcellular distribution of certain ZIKV proteins was corroborated in a separate study where interatomic analyses using proximity-dependent biotin-identification (BioID) labeling and FLAG-based immunoprecipitation (IP) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) uncover indepth molecular interactions between ZIKV proteins with various host organelles and proteins. In general, ZIKV proteins mainly interact with host proteins that are involved in protein processing, vesicle trafficking, RNA processing, and lipid metabolism [20] . ZIKV capsid interacts with multiple nucleolar proteins, whereas NS5 protein targets and disrupts the Cajal bodies in the nucleus [20] . This observation is consistent with the aforementioned experimental study that showed nuclear localization of ZIKV capsid and NS5 protein [19] . The study also identified numerous interactions between viral proteins (prM, Env, NS2A, NS2B, NS4A, and NS4B) with various ER proteins, which highlights the importance of the ER in ZIKV life cycle [20] .