The 2015 Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak caused global concern when it was determined to cause microcephaly, hearing loss, and other neurodevelopmental manifestations upon fetal exposure. Significant progress has been made in our understanding of the interactions between ZIKV and the pregnant host, but there is still a critical need to understand how ZIKV and other neurotropic viruses affect fetal neurodevelopment. Diaphanous-related formins (Diaphs) have recently been identified as microcephaly-associated proteins in humans and mice. Mutations in Diaphs affect the function of neural progenitor cells, much like prenatal viral infection. We present a novel hypothesis that viruses ‘hijack' Diaphs in neural progenitor cells, causing autonomous differentiation and apoptosis of neural progenitor cells, which could potentially contribute to virus-associated neurological pathologies.
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