Fig. 8

Efficacy of gossypol derivative ST087010 in protecting pregnant Ifnar1^−/− mice and their fetuses against ZIKV challenge. Pregnant mice were i.p. treated with ST087010 or DMSO (control) and infected with ZIKV human strain R116265 (10³ PFU/mouse), as described in the “Methods” section. A Detection of viral titers by plaque assay in the sera (a), placenta (b), fetal brain (c), and amniotic fluid (d) at 5 dpi. The data are expressed as the mean ± s.e.m. of 5 mice in each group, and significant differences between ST087010 and DMSO groups in the sera, placenta, fetal brain, and amniotic fluid, respectively, are shown. The detection limit is 25 PFU/ml (for sera and amniotic fluid) or 25 PFU/g (for the placenta and fetal brain). B Representative images of the morphology of mouse uteri and fetuses at 5 dpi are shown. (a) E17-19 uteri from pregnant mice challenged at E12-14. Fetal morphology (b) and fetal size (c). C ZIKV or caspase-3 signals were measured in the placenta by immunofluorescence staining. ZIKV (green) and caspase-3 (red) were stained with anti-ZIKV and anti-active caspase-3 antibodies, respectively. Nuclei (blue) were stained with DAPI. Representative images of immunofluorescence staining are shown. Magnification, 63×, and scale bar 10 μm