Can cyclodextrins inactivate Zika virus?
This great study from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of South Dakota deals with the correlation of BCD and ZIKV inactation.
While its not clear totally what kind of CD is used, results show that BCD can inactivate or ‘sterilize’ ZIKV in cell culture fluids and is immunogenic in mice opening the possibility of creating a vaccine.
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is associated with life-threatening diseases in humans. To date, there are no available FDA-approved therapies or vaccines for the specific treatment or prevention of ZIKV infection. Variation in the ZIKV envelope protein (Env), along with its complex quaternary structure, presents challenges to synthetic approaches for developing an effective vaccine and broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). We hypothesized that beta-cyclodextrin (BCD) could be used to uniquely inactivate infectious ZIKV without disruption of Env.
Potential applications:
– BCD-inactivated ZIKV can be used as a safe substrate in assays for the evaluation of vaccine and antibody candidates that require intact Env proteins.
– Topical products containing BCD can possibly be used as prophylaxis to protect against sexually transmitted ZIKV infection.
– BCD-inactivated ZIKV is immunogenic in mice, raising the possibility that this product could be directly used to produce an effective vaccine or novel therapeutic antibodies.
Inactivation of Zika Virus with Hydroxypropyl-Beta-Cyclodextrin
