ZIKV infection

A549 cells were seeded at a density of 3 × 105 cells per well in 12-well plates. Cells were uninfected, mock-infected, or infected with ZIKV variants the next day at an MOI of 5 FFU/cell, and virus inocula prepared in DMEM were allowed to adsorb at 37°C for 2 h with rocking. Uninfected samples are seeded cells that remained untouched throughout the infection time course, whereas mock-infected samples were inoculated with DMEM. Following adsorption, the inocula were removed, and cells were washed with 1× PBS before fresh cDMEM was added and returned to 37°C until the appropriate time points.