Sex‐specific effect of antenatal Zika virus infection on murine fetal growth, placental nutrient transporters, and nutrient sensor signaling pathways

Abstract

AbstractMaternal Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy has been associated with severe intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), placental damage, metabolism disturbances, and newborn neurological abnormalities. Here, we investigated the impact of maternal ZIKV infection on placental nutrient transporters and nutrient‐sensitive pathways. Immunocompetent (C57BL/6) mice were injected with Low (103 PFU‐ZIKVPE243) or High (5 × 107 PFU‐ZIKVPE243) ZIKV titers at gestational day (GD) 12.5, and tissue was collected at GD18.5 (term). Fetal–placental growth was impaired in male fetuses, which exhibited higher placental expression of the ZIKV infective marker, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α), but lower levels of phospho‐eIF2α. There were no differences in fetal–placental growth in female fetuses, which exhibited no significant alterations in placental ZIKV infective markers. Furthermore, ZIKV promoted increased expression of glucose transporter type 1 (Slc2a1/Glut1) and decreased levels of glucose‐6‐phosphate in female placentae, with no differences in amino acid transport potential. In contrast, ZIKV did not impact glucose transporters in male placentae but downregulated sodium‐coupled neutral amino acid 2 (Snat2) transporter expression. We also observed sex‐dependent differences in the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) and O‐GlcNAcylation in ZIKV‐infected pregnancies, showing that ZIKV can disturb placental nutrient sensing. Our findings highlight molecular alterations in the placenta caused by maternal ZIKV infection, shedding light on nutrient transport, sensing, and availability. Our results also suggest that female and male placentae employ distinct coping mechanisms in response to ZIKV‐induced metabolic changes, providing insights into therapeutic approaches for congenital Zika syndrome.