Figure 3.

Breast milk cells of infected or non-infected mice are in majority mammary epithelial cells. (A): Breast milk samples collected from MOCK or ZIKV-infected dams with the Brazil/2016 strain at 4 days post-infection were centrifuged to separate the cream fraction, the whey, and the cell pellet. The cells were then subjected to two spin-wash cycles in PBS in order to eliminate any free viral particles left from the liquid fractions. Antigen expression was analyzed by immune staining and flow cytometry. (B): Anti-CD45 and anti-CD24 antibodies were used to detect and quantify immune and epithelial cells respectively. (C): CD49f expression was used to identify mammary epithelial cells among the CD45-negative cells determined in (B). The results of one experiment are presented (MOCK: n = 2, ZIKV: n = 7). (D): histogram representation of CD45-positive (immune) or CD24-positive (epithelial) cells in breast milk of MOCK or ZIKV-infected dams (MOCK: n = 2, ZIKV: n = 7). (E): histogram representation of mature and immature luminal mammary cells in breast milk, determined among the CD45-negative cells (MOCK: n = 2, ZIKV: n = 7).