Microcephaly News and Research

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Measuring head circumference (also known as occipito-frontal circumference) is a significant part of the proper evaluation of a child’s growth and development, as it represents a direct indication of head growth. Therefore deviations from normal head growth may reveal certain congenital or acquired problem.

Brain organoid models reveal mechanisms linked to virus-induced microcephaly

Researchers at IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences - demonstrate that different viruses can lead to brain malformations through diverse mechanisms by using human brain organoid models.

9 Apr 2021

Mutations to autism-associated gene cause a cascade of problems in developing mouse brains

Damage to the autism-associated gene Dyrk1a, sets off a cascade of problems in developing mouse brains, resulting in abnormal growth-factor signaling, undergrowth of neurons, smaller-than-average brain size, and, eventually, autism-like behaviors, a new study from Scripps Research, Florida, finds.

8 Apr 2021

Study discovers how microcephaly and blindness may develop in Zika-infected fetuses

A study led by Edward Wojcik, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, identified how microcephaly (abnormally small heads) and blindness may develop in Zika-infected fetuses, as well as a new way to potentially prevent these neurodevelopmental defects.

6 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 does not infect the entire body in the same way, finds study

COVID-19, the disease caused by the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is primarily regarded as a respiratory infection. Yet the virus has also become known for affecting other parts of the body in ways not as well understood, sometimes with longer-term consequences, such as heart arrhythmia, fatigue and "brain fog."

24 Feb 2021

A brain enzyme plays an important role in waking up neural stem cells

Researchers studying an enzyme in fruit fly larvae have found that it plays an important role in waking up brain stem cells from their dormant 'quiescent' state, enabling them to proliferate and generate new neurons.

12 Feb 2021

Preclinical study uncovers how Zika virus passes from mother to fetus during pregnancy

A preclinical study by a University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine research team has discovered a new mechanism for how Zika virus can pass from mothers to their children during pregnancy - a process known as vertical transmission.

3 Feb 2021

Fetal and neonatal therapy combination may lessen the aftereffects of congenital CMV infection

A cross-institutional research group has revealed for the first time in the world that infants with symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection who were treated with a combination of immunoglobulin fetal therapy and neonatal therapy with antiviral drugs were less likely to experience the severe aftereffects associated with the infection than those who only received the neonatal therapy.

28 Jan 2021

Zika infection affects fetal retinal development during pregnancy but not after birth

While the SARS-CoV-2 virus has dominated the news this past year, researchers continue to study the health effects of the Zika virus, which has been reported in 86 countries globally.

18 Dec 2020

Virginia Tech researchers awarded NIH grant to develop Zika virus vaccine

Flaviviruses -- a group of viruses transmitted by ticks or mosquitoes -- infect an estimated 400 million people annually with diseases like yellow fever, Dengue fever, West Nile virus, and, most recently, Zika virus.

9 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 versus Zika: Comparing and contrasting the flow of research

An interesting study published on the preprint server medRxiv in November 2020, dealing not with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the publications that have appeared as a consequence of the outbreak, comparing them with the similar trove of publications that followed the Zika virus outbreak in 2016.

25 Nov 2020

Widely used antibiotic shows promise for fighting against Zika infections

In 2015, hundreds of children were born with brain deformities resulting from a global outbreak of Zika virus infections.

24 Nov 2020

New mechanism controlling brain size discovered

Under the leadership of Professor Lars Allan Larsen and Professor Søren Tvorup Christensen at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, an international research team has taken an important step forward in understanding the complex mechanisms that control development of the so-called cerebral cortex, which is the part of the brain that play a key role in attention, perception, awareness, thought, memory, language, and consciousness.

16 Nov 2020

Researchers describe factors that reduce placenta's capacity to protect fetus from zika virus

Genetic factors that reduce the placenta's capacity to protect the fetus from the zika virus are described by Brazilian researchers in an article published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

28 Oct 2020

Study shows how Zika virus degrades key protein involved in neurological growth

In a study published in Autophagy, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) shed new light on how Zika virus hijacks our own cellular machinery to break down a protein that is essential for neurological development and cellular communication, getting it to "eat itself."

29 Sep 2020

Scientists identify new genetic cause of syndromic microcephaly

Greenwood Genetic Center researchers, in collaboration with scientists from Belgium, Spain, and Italy, have confirmed that variants in LMNB1 cause syndromic microcephaly with variable short stature, intellectual disability, and other neurological symptoms.

17 Sep 2020

Study shows what happens in the fetal brain affected by congenital Zika syndrome

Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause severe abnormalities in the fetus, including malformations such as microcephaly.

3 Sep 2020

Zika virus mutation responsible for quick spread, birth defects uncovered

A multidisciplinary team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered a Zika virus mutation that may be responsible for the explosive viral transmission in 2015/2016 and for the cause of microcephaly (babies with small heads) born to infected pregnant women.

3 Aug 2020

Study reveals molecular cause underlying rare genetic disorder

Virginia Tech scientists have revealed how a nonfunctioning version of an ordinary gene impairs brain structure and function. The findings help explain a genetic form of microcephaly -- a condition where babies' heads are small and grow more slowly than their peers.

27 Jul 2020

Experimental therapy slows zika replication and prevents microcephaly in mice

An international group of researchers have discovered that inhibiting AHR (aryl hydrocarbon receptor), a protein with roles in regulating immunity, stem cell maintenance and cellular differentiation, enables the immune system to combat replication of zika virus in the organism far more effectively.

20 Jul 2020

Zika virus during pregnancy can hamper vital collagen development in babies’ brains

Zika virus can hamper vital collagen development in the brains of babies whose mothers were infected with the disease while pregnant, new research reveals, as the search for a vaccine continues.

25 Jun 2020