Crystallization of Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease v1

Zika virus (ZIKV) infections causes microcephaly in new-borns and Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults raising a global public health concern, yet no vaccines or antiviral drugs are available to treat or prevent ZIKV infections. The viral NS3 protease with its NS2B cofactor is essential for the cleavage of Zika polyprotein precursor into individual structural and non-structural proteins and is therefore an attractive drug target. We optimized a robust crystal system of co-expressed NS3 protease with its NS2B cofactor and used this in a crystallographic fragment screening campaign.