Inhibiting immunoregulatory amidase NAAA blocks ZIKV maturation in Human Neural Stem Cells

Michele Lai, Veronica La Rocca, Elena Iacono, Carolina Filipponi, Alessandro De Carli, Domenico Favaro, Rossella Fonnesu, Fabio Filippini, Pietro Giorgio Spezia, Rachele Amato, Elisa Catelli, Baggiani Matteo, Giulia Lottini, Marco Onorati, Nicola Clementi, Giulia Freer, Daniele Piomelli, Mauro Pistello. Antiviral Res. 2023 Aug:216:105664.

Laboratory studyHumans

Design

Laboratory study

Subjects

Human neural stem cells infected with Zika virus

Dose used in the study

NAAA inhibition by gene editing or drugs, which raises cellular palmitoylethanolamide; PEA itself was not added

Duration

Not stated in the abstract

What was measured

Zika virus replication, virion infectivity and maturation (furin-mediated prM cleavage).

What the authors reported

Inhibiting NAAA reduced Zika replication by about one log10 in human neural stem cells and led to release of immature, non-infectious virions, linked to impaired furin cleavage of prM that blocked viral maturation. The authors describe NAAA inhibition as raising PEA, which activates PPAR-alpha and directs beta-oxidation.

Limits of this study

A cell culture study; it cannot show effect in people. PEA was not given directly; the effect comes from blocking its breakdown. The authors declare no competing interests.

Source

PubMed 37414288 · doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2023.105664

Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.