Zika virus directly infects peripheral neurons and induces cell death

Zika virus (ZIKV)-infection is associated with neurological disorders of both the central and peripheral nervous systems (PNS), yet few studies have directly examined PNS-infection. Here we show that intraperitoneally or intraventricularly-injected ZIKV in the mouse could infect and impact peripheral neurons in vivo. Moreover, ZIKV productively infects stem cell-derived human neural crest cells and peripheral neurons in vitro, leading to increased cell death, transcriptional dysregulation and cell-type specific molecular pathology.