Discovery of Structurally Diverse Small-Molecule Compounds with Broad Antiviral Activity against Enteroviruses

Antiviral drugs do not currently exist for the treatment of enterovirus infections, which are often severe and potentially life-threatening. We conducted high-throughput molecular screening and identified a structurally diverse set of compounds that inhibit the replication of coxsackievirus B3, a commonly encountered enterovirus. These compounds did not interfere with the function of the viral internal ribosome entry site or with the activity of the viral proteases, but they did drastically reduce the synthesis of viral RNA and viral proteins in infected cells. Sequence analysis of compound-resistant mutants suggests that the viral 2C protein is targeted by most of these compounds. These compounds demonstrated antiviral activity against a panel of the most commonly encountered enteroviruses and thus represent potential leads for the development of broad-spectrum anti-enteroviral drugs.

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Human Cytomegalovirus Induces the Endoplasmic Reticulum Chaperone BiP through Increased Transcription and Activation of Translation by Using the BiP Internal Ribosome Entry Site

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.01330-10 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 84 (21) ◽

pp. 11479-11486 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Nicholas J. Buchkovich ◽

Yongjun Yu ◽

Francis J. Pierciey ◽

James C. Alwine

Keyword(s):

Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Internal Ribosome Entry Site ◽

Hcmv Infection ◽

Mrna Translation ◽

Entry Site ◽

Internal Ribosome Entry ◽

Unfolded Protein ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Protein Response

ABSTRACT The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone BiP (immunoglobulin binding protein) plays a major role in the control of the unfolded protein response. We have previously shown that BiP levels are dramatically increased during human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection, where BiP performs unique roles in viral assembly and egress. We show that BiP mRNA levels increase during infection due to activation of the BiP promoter by the major immediate-early (MIE) proteins. The BiP promoter, like other ER stress-activated promoters, contains endoplasmic reticulum stress elements (ERSEs), which are activated by unfolded protein response (UPR)-induced transcription factors. However, these elements are not needed for MIE protein-mediated transcriptional activation; thus, a virus-specific transcriptional activation mechanism is used. Transcriptional activation results in only a 3- to 4-fold increase in BiP mRNA, suggesting that additional mechanisms for BiP production are utilized. The BiP mRNA contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) which increases the level of BiP mRNA translation. We show that utilization of the BiP IRES is dramatically increased in HCMV-infected cells. Utilization of the BiP IRES can be activated by the La autoantigen, also called Sjögren's syndrome antigen B (SSB). We show that SSB/La levels are significantly increased during HCMV infection, and SSB/La depletion causes the loss of BiP IRES utilization and lowers endogenous BiP levels in infected cells. Our data show that BiP levels increase in HCMV-infected cells through the combination of increased BiP gene transcription mediated by the MIE proteins and increased BiP mRNA translation due to SSB/La-induced utilization of the BiP IRES.

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Selection, Optimization, and Pharmacokinetic Properties of a Novel, Potent Antiviral Locked Nucleic Acid-Based Antisense Oligomer Targeting Hepatitis C Virus Internal Ribosome Entry Site

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ◽

10.1128/aac.00222-11 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 55 (7) ◽

pp. 3105-3114 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Carl Laxton ◽

Kevin Brady ◽

Sterghios Moschos ◽

Paul Turnpenny ◽

Jaiessh Rawal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis C Virus ◽

Hepatitis C ◽

Nucleic Acid ◽

Antiviral Activity ◽

Internal Ribosome Entry Site ◽

Rnase H ◽

Locked Nucleic Acid ◽

Response Curves ◽

Entry Site ◽

Internal Ribosome Entry

ABSTRACTWe have screened 47 locked nucleic acid (LNA) antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) targeting conserved (>95% homology) sequences in the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome using the subgenomic HCV replicon assay and generated both antiviral (50% effective concentration [EC50]) and cytotoxic (50% cytotoxic concentration [CC50]) dose-response curves to allow measurement of the selectivity index (SI). This comprehensive approach has identified an LNA ASO with potent antiviral activity (EC50= 4 nM) and low cytotoxicity (CC50>880 nM) targeting the 25- to 40-nucleotide region (nt) of the HCV internal ribosome entry site (IRES) containing the distal and proximal miR-122 binding sites. LNA ASOs targeting previously known accessible regions of the IRES, namely, loop III and the initiation codon in loop IV, had poor SI values. We optimized the LNA ASO sequence by performing a 1-nucleotide walk through the 25- to 40-nt region and show that the boundaries for antiviral efficacy are extremely precise. Furthermore, we have optimized the format for the LNA ASO using different gapmer and mixomer patterns and show that RNase H is required for antiviral activity. We demonstrate that RNase H-refractory ASOs targeting the 25- to 40-nt region have no antiviral effect, revealing important regulatory features of the 25- to 40-nt region and suggesting that RNase H-refractory LNA ASOs can act as potential surrogates for proviral functions of miR-122. We confirm the antisense mechanism of action using mismatched LNA ASOs. Finally, we have performed pharmacokinetic experiments to demonstrate that the LNA ASOs have a very long half-life (>5 days) and attain hepatic maximum concentrations >100 times the concentration required forin vitroantiviral activity.

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