From The Patch
August 12, 2020
RIVERSIDE, CA — The mosquito-borne Zika virus can defeat a person’s immune system by drilling into the cellular defenses needed to combat diseases, according to research by a pair of UC Riverside scientists.
UCR biochemistry professor Jikui Song and virologist Rong Hai were joined by researchers from UCLA in producing a study on Zika’s micro-level interactions, published in the most recent edition of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
Key elements of the research spotlighted how Zika pathogens damage a person’s immune response by penetrating defender cells known as interferons.