Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: SARA DO NASCIMENTO MAIA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : SARA DO NASCIMENTO MAIA
DATE: 30/09/2022
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: https://meet.google.com/naz-ukem-nvt
TITLE:

Assessment of maternal immune response against fetal brain targets during the origin of zika virus-derived microcephalies

KEY WORDS:

antibodies, autoimmune, Engrailed1, congenital zika virus syndrome, ELISA

PAGES: 102
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Biologia Geral
SUMMARY:

During pregnancy, the mother's immune system undergoes several physiological changes that induce its tolerance to the cells of the embryo. As the embryo has half of its father's genome, any breach of tolerance can induce the production of antibodies by the mother's immune system against fetal antigens. Among the variables that can induce the breakdown of tolerance are infections by pathogens. Congenital Zika virus (ZIKV) infection leads in many cases to malformation of the central nervous system (CNS), which has been called congenital Zika virus syndrome (CZVS). In some cases, the patient is born without any clear sequelae and develops postnatal microcephaly, which suggests persistent inflammation of the CNS. Thus, in this project we tested the hypothesis that in addition to the direct damage caused by the viral infection, patients may experience a maternal autoimmune response. Here we show that mothers of children with CZVS have higher levels of antibodies against Engrailed1 (α-EN1), a protein expressed by the developing hindbrain. The level of α-EN1 correlates with the level of ZIKV antibody expression that each mother expresses. However, α-EN1 levels do not correlate with the occurrence of epilepsies or hindbrain malformations. We also tested whether serum from mothers of CZVS children reacts with slices of adult hippocampus or embryonic telencephalon from rodents, a method used to detect antibodies responsible for autoimmune encephalitis. Serum from these patients does not react against these tissues or even against organoid slices from human brains. Thus, this work suggests that ZIKV infection during pregnancy stimulates the production of maternal antibodies against a target expressed in the embryonic CNS. However, this production does not reflect on the severity of the case, which is probably more dependent on direct infection by the virus.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 2394627 - EDUARDO BOUTH SEQUERRA
Interna - 6346130 - MARIA BERNARDETE CORDEIRO DE SOUSA
Interno - 1824636 - RICHARDSON NAVES LEAO