scholarly journals Synthetic Peptides as a Promising Alternative to Control Viral Infections in Atlantic Salmon

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constanza Cárdenas ◽  
Fanny Guzmán ◽  
Marisela Carmona ◽  
Cristian Muñoz ◽  
Luis Nilo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Load ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
In Silico Analysis ◽  
Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus ◽  
Fish Cell ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Anemia Virus

Viral infections in salmonids represent an ongoing challenge for the aquaculture industry. Two RNA viruses, the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) and the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV), have become a latent risk without healing therapies available for either. In this context, antiviral peptides emerge as effective and relatively safe therapeutic molecules. Based on in silico analysis of VP2 protein from IPNV and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from ISAV, a set of peptides was designed and were chemically synthesized to block selected key events in their corresponding infectivity processes. The peptides were tested in fish cell lines in vitro, and four were selected for decreasing the viral load: peptide GIM182 for IPNV, and peptides GIM535, GIM538 and GIM539 for ISAV. In vivo tests with the IPNV GIM 182 peptide were carried out using Salmo salar fish, showing a significant decrease of viral load, and proving the safety of the peptide for fish. The results indicate that the use of peptides as antiviral agents in disease control might be a viable alternative to explore in aquaculture.

scholarly journals In Silico Analysis of Sea Urchin Pigments as Potential Therapeutic Agents Against SARS-CoV-2: Main Protease (Mpro) as a Target.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Rubilar ◽  
Elena Susana Barbieri ◽  
Ayelén Gázquez ◽  
Marisa Avaro ◽  
Mercedes Vera-Piombo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
In Silico ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
In Silico Analysis ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
In Silico Docking ◽  
Main Protease

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has spread rapidly and globally generating a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since December 2019 that turned into a pandemic. Effective drugs are urgently needed and drug repurposing strategies offer a promising alternative to dramatically shorten the process of traditional de novo development. Based on their antiviral uses, the potential affinity of sea urchin pigments to bind main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated in silico. Docking analysis was used to test the potential of these sea urchin pigments as therapeutic and antiviral agents. All pigment compounds presented high molecular affinity to Mpro protein. However, the 1,4-naphtoquinones polihydroxilate (Spinochrome A and Echinochrome A) showed high affinity to bind around the Mpro´s pocket target by interfering with proper folding of the protein mainly through an H-bond with Glu166 residue. This interaction represents a potential blockage of this protease´s activity. All these results provide novel information regarding the uses of sea urchin pigments as antiviral drugs and suggest the need for further in vitro and in vivo analysis to expand all therapeutic uses against SARS-CoV-2. <br>

scholarly journals In Silico Analysis of Sea Urchin Pigments as Potential Therapeutic Agents Against SARS-CoV-2: Main Protease (Mpro) as a Target.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Rubilar ◽  
Elena Susana Barbieri ◽  
Ayelén Gázquez ◽  
Marisa Avaro ◽  
Mercedes Vera-Piombo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
In Silico ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
In Silico Analysis ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
In Silico Docking ◽  
Main Protease

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has spread rapidly and globally generating a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since December 2019 that turned into a pandemic. Effective drugs are urgently needed and drug repurposing strategies offer a promising alternative to dramatically shorten the process of traditional de novo development. Based on their antiviral uses, the potential affinity of sea urchin pigments to bind main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated in silico. Docking analysis was used to test the potential of these sea urchin pigments as therapeutic and antiviral agents. All pigment compounds presented high molecular affinity to Mpro protein. However, the 1,4-naphtoquinones polihydroxilate (Spinochrome A and Echinochrome A) showed high affinity to bind around the Mpro´s pocket target by interfering with proper folding of the protein mainly through an H-bond with Glu166 residue. This interaction represents a potential blockage of this protease´s activity. All these results provide novel information regarding the uses of sea urchin pigments as antiviral drugs and suggest the need for further in vitro and in vivo analysis to expand all therapeutic uses against SARS-CoV-2. <br>

scholarly journals Nanomaterials Designed for Antiviral Drug Delivery Transport across Biological Barriers

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florina-Daniela Cojocaru ◽  
Doru Botezat ◽  
Ioannis Gardikiotis ◽  
Cristina-Mariana Uritu ◽  
Gianina Dodi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Delivery ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Antiviral Therapies ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Socio Economic Impact

Viral infections are a major global health problem, representing a significant cause of mortality with an unfavorable continuously amplified socio-economic impact. The increased drug resistance and constant viral replication have been the trigger for important studies regarding the use of nanotechnology in antiviral therapies. Nanomaterials offer unique physico-chemical properties that have linked benefits for drug delivery as ideal tools for viral treatment. Currently, different types of nanomaterials namely nanoparticles, liposomes, nanospheres, nanogels, nanosuspensions and nanoemulsions were studied either in vitro or in vivo for drug delivery of antiviral agents with prospects to be translated in clinical practice. This review highlights the drug delivery nanosystems incorporating the major antiviral classes and their transport across specific barriers at cellular and intracellular level. Important reflections on nanomedicines currently approved or undergoing investigations for the treatment of viral infections are also discussed. Finally, the authors present an overview on the requirements for the design of antiviral nanotherapeutics.

scholarly journals The Liver Partition Coefficient-Corrected Inhibitory Quotient and the Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Relationship of Directly Acting Anti-Hepatitis C Virus Agents in Humans

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 5381-5386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianmin Duan ◽  
Gordon Bolger ◽  
Michel Garneau ◽  
Ma'an Amad ◽  
Joëlle Batonga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatitis C Virus ◽  
Viral Load ◽  
Hepatitis C ◽  
Partition Coefficient ◽  
Partition Coefficients ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Drug Concentrations

ABSTRACTPharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) data analyses from early hepatitis C virus (HCV) clinical trials failed to show a good correlation between the plasma inhibitory quotient (IQ) and antiviral activity of different classes of directly acting antiviral agents (DAAs). The present study explored whether use of the liver partition coefficient-corrected IQ (LCIQ) could improve the PK-PD relationship. Animal liver partition coefficients (Kpliver) were calculated from liver to plasma exposure ratios.In vitrohepatocyte partition coefficients (Kphep) were determined by the ratio of cellular to medium drug concentrations. Human Kpliverwas predicted using anin vitro-in vivoproportionality method: the species-averaged animal Kplivermultiplied by the ratio of human Kphepover those in animals. LCIQ was calculated using the IQ multiplied by the predicted human Kpliver. Our results demonstrated that thein vitro-in vivoproportionality approach provided the best human Kpliverprediction, with prediction errors of <45% for all 5 benchmark drugs evaluated (doxorubicin, verapamil, digoxin, quinidine, and imipramine). Plasma IQ values correlated poorly (r2of 0.48) with maximum viral load reduction and led to a corresponding 50% effective dose (ED50) IQ of 42, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.1 to 148534. In contrast, the LCIQ-maximum VLR relationship fit into a typical sigmoidal curve with anr2value of 0.95 and an ED50LCIQ of 121, with a 95% CI of 83 to 177. The present study provides a novel human Kpliverprediction model, and the LCIQ correlated well with the viral load reductions observed in short-term HCV monotherapy of different DAAs and provides a valuable tool to guide HCV drug discovery.

scholarly journals Exploring essential oils as prospective therapy against the ravaging Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-330
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Onah Ojah ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Essential Oils ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Chemical Constituents ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Drug Candidate ◽  
Anti Cancer

Introduction: Aromatic plants produce diverse chemical constituents with potential to inhibit viral infections. These plants have been utilized for the prevention and treatment of a range of infectious and non-infectious diseases. Essential oils are among the plant-derived antiviral agents that are being employed in phytomedicine, and are considered as prospective drug candidate against the ravaging Coronavirus. Methods: Relevant articles relating to the concept were identified using a combination of manual library search as well as journal publication on the subject and critically reviewed. Results: Essential oils in medicinal plants have extensive applications in medicinal chemistry, aromatherapy and pharmaceuticals. Essential oils have several biological properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing and anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo. Several reports have analyzed and described essential oils as good antiviral agents against Respiratory tract viral infections hence are excellent prospective candidate against Corona virus. Conclusions: It is hoped that efficient and effective exploration and optimization of essential oils from medicinal plants would improve the drug discovery process against the ravaging Coronavirus.

scholarly journals Piscine birnavirus triggers antiviral immune response in trout red blood cells, despite not being infective

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Nombela ◽  
Aurora Carrion ◽  
Sara Puente-Marin ◽  
Veronica Chico ◽  
Luis Mercado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Fish Cell ◽  
Antiviral Immune Response ◽  
Anemia Virus

Background:Some fish viruses, such as piscine orthoreovirus and infectious salmon anemia virus, target red blood cells (RBCs), highly replicate inside them and induce an immune response. However, the implications of RBCs in the context of birnavirus infection (i.e, infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV)) have not yet been studied.Methods:Ex vivotrout RBCs were obtained from peripheral blood, ficoll purified and exposed to IPNV in order to analyze infectivity and induced immune response using RT-qPCR, immune fluorescence imaging, flow cytometry and western-blotting techniques.Results:IPNV could not infect RBCs; however, IPNV-exposed RBCs increased the expression of the INF1-related genesifn-1, pkrandmxgenes. Moreover, conditioned media from IPNV-exposed RBCs conferred protection against IPNV infection in CHSE-214 fish cell line.Conclusions:Trout RBCs could trigger an antiviral immune response against IPNV infection despite not being infected. Fish RBCs could be considered mediators of the antiviral response and therefore targets of novel DNA vaccines and new strategies against fish viral infections. Further research is ongoing to completely understand the molecular mechanism that triggers this immune response in trout RBCs.

scholarly journals African and Asian Medicinal Plants as a Repository for Prospective Antiviral Metabolites Against HIV-1 and SARS CoV-2: A Mini Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godwin Anywar ◽  
Muhammad Akram ◽  
Muhammad Amjad Chishti
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Natural Compounds ◽  
Drug Candidates ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Hiv 1

Introduction: The worldwide burden of viral infections has triggered a resurgence in the search for new and more efficient antiviral drugs. Scientists are also repurposing existing natural compounds such as the antimalarial drug artemisinin from Artemesia annua L. as potential drug candidates for some of the emerging and re-emerging viral infections such as covid-19Aim: The aim of this review was to analyse the existing literature to explore the actual or potential natural antiviral compounds from African and Asian medicinal plants as lead compounds in the drug discovery process.Methods: We searched the literature on African and Asian medicinal plant species as antiviral agents for HIV-1 and the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in various databases and search engines such as Web of Science, Google Scholar and PubMed. The search was limited to in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies and excluded in silico studies.Results: We present 16 plant species with actual or potential antiviral activity against HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. These plant species span the continents of Africa and Asia where they are widely used for treating several other ailments.Conclusion: Natural compounds from plants can play a significant role in the clinical management of HIV/AIDS and the covid-19 pandemic. More research needs to be conducted to investigate the potential toxicities of the various compounds and their efficacies in clinical settings.

In Silico Study of Potential Cross-Kingdom Plant MicroRNA Based Regulation in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-132
Author(s):  
Marjanu Hikmah Elias ◽  
Noraziah Nordin ◽  
Nazefah Abdul Hamid
Keyword(s):  
Targeted Therapy ◽  
In Silico ◽  
Structure Prediction ◽  
Tertiary Structure ◽  
Target Prediction ◽  
In Silico Analysis ◽  
Microrna Target ◽  
Good Target

Background: Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) is associated with the BCRABL1 gene, which plays a central role in the pathogenesis of CML. Thus, it is crucial to suppress the expression of BCR-ABL1 in the treatment of CML. MicroRNA is known to be a gene expression regulator and is thus a good candidate for molecularly targeted therapy for CML. Objective: This study aims to identify the microRNAs from edible plants targeting the 3’ Untranslated Region (3’UTR) of BCR-ABL1. Methods: In this in silico analysis, the sequence of 3’UTR of BCR-ABL1 was obtained from Ensembl Genome Browser. PsRNATarget Analysis Server and MicroRNA Target Prediction (miRTar) Server were used to identify miRNAs that have binding conformity with 3’UTR of BCR-ABL1. The MiRBase database was used to validate the species of plants expressing the miRNAs. The RNAfold web server and RNA COMPOSER were used for secondary and tertiary structure prediction, respectively. Results: In silico analyses revealed that cpa-miR8154, csi-miR3952, gma-miR4414-5p, mdm-miR482c, osa-miR1858a and osa-miR1858b show binding conformity with strong molecular interaction towards 3’UTR region of BCR-ABL1. However, only cpa-miR- 8154, osa-miR-1858a and osa-miR-1858b showed good target site accessibility. Conclusion: It is predicted that these microRNAs post-transcriptionally inhibit the BCRABL1 gene and thus could be a potential molecular targeted therapy for CML. However, further studies involving in vitro, in vivo and functional analyses need to be carried out to determine the ability of these miRNAs to form the basis for targeted therapy for CML.

scholarly journals In Silico Predicted Antifungal Peptides: In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Candida Activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 439
Author(s):  
Tecla Ciociola ◽  
Walter Magliani ◽  
Tiziano De Simone ◽  
Thelma A. Pertinhez ◽  
Stefania Conti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Silico ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Galleria Mellonella ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Consensus Sequence ◽  
In Silico Analysis ◽  
Significant Activity ◽  
Synthetic Antibody

It has been previously demonstrated that synthetic antibody-derived peptides could exert a significant activity in vitro, ex vivo, and/or in vivo against microorganisms and viruses, as well as immunomodulatory effects through the activation of immune cells. Based on the sequence of previously described antibody-derived peptides with recognized antifungal activity, an in silico analysis was conducted to identify novel antifungal candidates. The present study analyzed the candidacidal and structural properties of in silico designed peptides (ISDPs) derived by amino acid substitutions of the parent peptide KKVTMTCSAS. ISDPs proved to be more active in vitro than the parent peptide and all proved to be therapeutic in Galleria mellonella candidal infection, without showing toxic effects on mammalian cells. ISDPs were studied by circular dichroism spectroscopy, demonstrating different structural organization. These results allowed to validate a consensus sequence for the parent peptide KKVTMTCSAS that may be useful in the development of novel antimicrobial molecules.

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