Signal peptidase complex subunit 1 is an essential Zika virus host factor in placental trophoblasts.

Zika is a major teratogenic virus that can be transmitted from pregnant women to the fetus via the transplacental route. At present, no specific vaccines or treatments are available. Large-scale functional genomics approaches for the analysis of host cell function in infection greatly improve the understanding of molecular infection processes and advance the discovery of antiviral targets. We conducted a pooled CRISPR/Cas9 screen to explore trophoblast function upon Zika infection. The identified Zika virus host factors enrich in the ER membrane complex and the signal peptide processing pathway. Finally, we demonstrate that signal peptidase complex subunit 1 (SPCS1) is crucial for virus replication in trophoblasts.