1
|
Stalin A, Han J, Daniel Reegan A, Ignacimuthu S, Liu S, Yao X, Zou Q. Exploring the antiviral inhibitory activity of Niloticin against the NS2B/NS3 protease of Dengue virus (DENV2). Int J Biol Macromol 2024:133791. [PMID: 38992553 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Dengue virus (DENV2) is the cause of dengue disease and a worldwide health problem. DENV2 replicates in the host cell using polyproteins such as NS3 protease in conjugation with NS2B cofactor, making NS3 protease a promising antiviral drug-target. This study investigated the efficacy of 'Niloticin' against NS2B/NS3-protease. In silico and in vitro analyses were performed which included interaction of niloticin with NS2B/NS3-protease, protein stability and flexibility, mutation effect, betweenness centrality of residues and analysis of cytotoxicity, protein expression and WNV NS3-protease activity. Similar like acyclovir, niloticin forms strong H-bonds and hydrophobic interactions with residues LEU149, ASN152, LYS74, GLY148 and ALA164. The stability of the niloticin-NS2B/NS3-protease complex was found to be stable compared to the apo NS2B/NS3-protease in structural deviation, PCA, compactness and FEL analysis. The IC50 value of niloticin was 0.14 μM in BHK cells based on in vitro cytotoxicity analysis and showed significant activity at 2.5 μM in a concentration-dependent manner. Western blotting and qRT-PCR analyses showed that niloticin reduced DENV2 protein transcription in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, niloticin confirmed the inhibition of NS3-protease by the SensoLyte 440 WNV protease detection kit. These promising results suggest that niloticin could be an effective antiviral drug against DENV2 and other flaviviruses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antony Stalin
- Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610 054, China.
| | - Jiajia Han
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Appadurai Daniel Reegan
- National Centre for Disease Control, Bengaluru Branch, No. 8, NTI Campus, Bellary Road, Bengaluru 560 003, Karnataka, India; ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Indira Nagar, Gorimedu, Puducherry 605 006, India
| | - Savarimuthu Ignacimuthu
- Xavier Research Foundation, St. Xavier's College, Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Palayamkottai 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Shuwen Liu
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China; Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China (Southern Medical University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Xingang Yao
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China; Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Research in South China (Southern Medical University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510515, China.
| | - Quan Zou
- Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610 054, China.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Sanchez-Felipe L, Alpizar YA, Ma J, Coelmont L, Dallmeier K. YF17D-based vaccines - standing on the shoulders of a giant. Eur J Immunol 2024; 54:e2250133. [PMID: 38571392 DOI: 10.1002/eji.202250133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine (YF17D) was developed in the 1930s as the first ever empirically derived human vaccine. Ninety years later, it is still a benchmark for vaccines made today. YF17D triggers a particularly broad and polyfunctional response engaging multiple arms of innate, humoral and cellular immunity. This unique immunogenicity translates into an extraordinary vaccine efficacy and outstanding longevity of protection, possibly by single-dose immunization. More recently, progress in molecular virology and synthetic biology allowed engineering of YF17D as a powerful vector and promising platform for the development of novel recombinant live vaccines, including two licensed vaccines against Japanese encephalitis and dengue, even in paediatric use. Likewise, numerous chimeric and transgenic preclinical candidates have been described. These include prophylactic vaccines against emerging viral infections (e.g. Lassa, Zika and SARS-CoV-2) and parasitic diseases (e.g. malaria), as well as therapeutic applications targeting persistent infections (e.g. HIV and chronic hepatitis), and cancer. Efforts to overcome historical safety concerns and manufacturing challenges are ongoing and pave the way for wider use of YF17D-based vaccines. In this review, we summarize recent insights regarding YF17D as vaccine platform, and how YF17D-based vaccines may complement as well as differentiate from other emerging modalities in response to unmet medical needs and for pandemic preparedness.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lorena Sanchez-Felipe
- KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Molecular Vaccinology and Vaccine Discovery, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Yeranddy A Alpizar
- KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Molecular Vaccinology and Vaccine Discovery, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ji Ma
- KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Molecular Vaccinology and Vaccine Discovery, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lotte Coelmont
- KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Molecular Vaccinology and Vaccine Discovery, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kai Dallmeier
- KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Molecular Vaccinology and Vaccine Discovery, Leuven, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ganji M, Bakhshi S, Ahmadi K, Shoari A, Moeini S, Ghaemi A. Rational design of B-cell and T-cell multi epitope-based vaccine against Zika virus, an in silico study. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:3426-3440. [PMID: 37190978 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2213339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The Zika virus (ZKV) is a single-stranded positive-sense, enveloped RNA virus. Zika infection during pregnancy can cause congenital microcephaly, Guillain-Barré syndrome, miscarriage, and other CNS abnormalities. The world needs safe and effective vaccinations to fight against ZIKV infection since vaccination is generally regarded as one of the most effective ways to prevent infectious diseases. In the present work, we used immunoinformatics and docking studies to construct a vaccine containing multi-epitopes using the structural and non-structural proteins of ZKV. The structural models of ZKV proteins (PrE, PrM, NS1, and NS2A) were constructed using Pyre2 and RaptorX servers. The epitopes of B-cell, T-cell (HTL and CTL), and IFN-γ were predicted, and each epitope's immunogenic nature and physiochemical properties were confirmed. As an adjuvant, the CPG-Oligodeoxynucleotide, an agonist of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), is associated to cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes via PAPAP linker. To assess the binding affinity and the tendency of the designed vaccine to induce an immune response through TLR9, molecular docking was done. In the next step, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to 100 nanoseconds (ns) was used to evaluate the stability of the interaction of the designed vaccine with TLR9. The designed vaccine is predicted to be highly antigenic, non-toxic, soluble, and stable with low flexibility in MD simulation. MD studies indicated that the finalized vaccine-TLR9 docked complex was stable during simulation time. The vaccine construct is able to stimulate both humoral and cellular immune responses. We suppose that our constructed model of the vaccine may have the ability to induce the host immune response against ZKV. Further studies, including in vitro and in vivo experimental analyses, are needed to prove the constructed vaccine's efficacy with multi-epitopes.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Ganji
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Shohreh Bakhshi
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Khadijeh Ahmadi
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
| | - Alireza Shoari
- Department of Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
| | - Soheila Moeini
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Amir Ghaemi
- Department of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Velásquez-López Y, Ruiz-Escudero A, Arrasate S, González-Díaz H. Implementation of IFPTML Computational Models in Drug Discovery Against Flaviviridae Family. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:1841-1852. [PMID: 38466369 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
The Flaviviridae family consists of single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses, which contains the genera Flavivirus, Hepacivirus, Pegivirus, and Pestivirus. Currently, there is an outbreak of viral diseases caused by this family affecting millions of people worldwide, leading to significant morbidity and mortality rates. Advances in computational chemistry have greatly facilitated the discovery of novel drugs and treatments for diseases associated with this family. Chemoinformatic techniques, such as the perturbation theory machine learning method, have played a crucial role in developing new approaches based on ML models that can effectively aid drug discovery. The IFPTML models have shown its capability to handle, classify, and process large data sets with high specificity. The results obtained from different models indicates that this methodology is proficient in processing the data, resulting in a reduction of the false positive rate by 4.25%, along with an accuracy of 83% and reliability of 92%. These values suggest that the model can serve as a computational tool in assisting drug discovery efforts and the development of new treatments against Flaviviridae family diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yendrek Velásquez-López
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU. Apdo. 644. 48080 Bilbao (Spain)
- Bio-Cheminformatics Research Group, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito 170504, (Ecuador)
| | - Andrea Ruiz-Escudero
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, (Spain)
- IKERDATA S.L., ZITEK, University of Basque Country UPV/EHU, Rectorate Building, 48940 Leioa, Spain
| | - Sonia Arrasate
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU. Apdo. 644. 48080 Bilbao (Spain)
| | - Humberto González-Díaz
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU. Apdo. 644. 48080 Bilbao (Spain)
- BIOFISIKA, Basque Center for Biophysics CSIC-UPV/EHU, 48940 Bilbao (Spain)
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao (Spain)
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Merchán A, Ramírez-López P, Martínez C, Suárez JR, Perona A, Hernáiz MJ. Exploring Rigid and Flexible Scaffolds to Develop Potent Glucuronic Acid Glycodendrimers for Dengue Virus Inhibition. Bioconjug Chem 2024; 35:34-42. [PMID: 37964742 PMCID: PMC10797590 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.3c00309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Multivalent glycodendrimers are valuable tools for studying carbohydrate-protein interactions, and their scaffolds represent important components to increase specificity and affinity. Previous work by our group described the preparation of a tetravalent glucuronic acid rigid dendron that binds with good affinity to the dengue virus envelope protein (KD = 22 μM). Herein, the chemical synthesis and binding analysis of three new sets of rigid, semirigid, and flexible glucuronic acid-based dendrimers bearing different levels of multivalency and their interactions with the dengue virus envelope protein are described. The different oligoalkynyl scaffolds were coupled to glucuronic acid azides by a copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction through optimized synthetic strategies to afford the desired glycodendrimers with good yields. Surface plasmon resonance studies have demonstrated that glycodendrimers 12b and 12c, with flexible scaffolds, give the best binding interactions with the dengue virus envelope protein (12b: KD = 0.487 μM and 12c: KD = 0.624 μM). Their binding constant values were 45 and 35 times higher than the one obtained in previous studies with a rigid tetravalent glucuronic acid dendron (KD = 22 μM), respectively. Molecular modeling studies were carried out in order to understand the difference in behavior observed for 12b and 12c. This work reports an efficient glycodendrimer chemical synthesis process that provides an appropriate scaffold that offers an easy and versatile strategy to find new active compounds against the dengue virus.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Merchán
- Departamento de Química
en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plz. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, C.P. 28040, España
| | - Pedro Ramírez-López
- Departamento de Química
en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plz. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, C.P. 28040, España
| | - Carlos Martínez
- Departamento de Química
en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plz. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, C.P. 28040, España
| | - José Ramón Suárez
- Departamento de Química
en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plz. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, C.P. 28040, España
| | - Almudena Perona
- Departamento de Química
en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plz. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, C.P. 28040, España
| | - María J. Hernáiz
- Departamento de Química
en Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plz. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, C.P. 28040, España
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Tejo AM, Hamasaki DT, Menezes LM, Ho YL. Severe dengue in the intensive care unit. JOURNAL OF INTENSIVE MEDICINE 2024; 4:16-33. [PMID: 38263966 PMCID: PMC10800775 DOI: 10.1016/j.jointm.2023.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
Dengue fever is considered the most prolific vector-borne disease in the world, with its transmission rate increasing more than eight times in the last two decades. While most cases present mild to moderate symptoms, 5% of patients can develop severe disease. Although the mechanisms are yet not fully comprehended, immune-mediated activation leading to excessive cytokine expression is suggested as a cause of the two main findings in critical patients: increased vascular permeability that may shock and thrombocytopenia, and coagulopathy that can induce hemorrhage. The risk factors of severe disease include previous infection by a different serotype, specific genotypes associated with more efficient replication, certain genetic polymorphisms, and comorbidities such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization recommends careful monitoring and prompt hospitalization of patients with warning signs or propensity for severe disease to reduce mortality. This review aims to update the diagnosis and management of patients with severe dengue in the intensive care unit.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Mestre Tejo
- Intensive Care Unit, Department of Intensive Medicine of the Cancer Institute of the State of São Paulo, Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Debora Toshie Hamasaki
- Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy Department, A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Letícia Mattos Menezes
- Intensive Care Unit of Infectious Disease Department, Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Yeh-Li Ho
- Intensive Care Unit of Infectious Disease Department, Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Yu TH, Mei YY, Tseng YJ. Biopharma innovation trends during COVID-19 and beyond: an evidence from global partnerships and fundraising activities, 2011-2022. Global Health 2023; 19:57. [PMID: 37580752 PMCID: PMC10426226 DOI: 10.1186/s12992-023-00953-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Co-development alliances and capital-raising activities are essential supports for biopharmaceutical innovation. During the initial outbreak of the COVID-19, the level of these business activities has increased greatly. Yet the magnitude, direction, and duration of the trend remain ambiguous. Real-time real-world data are needed to inform strategic redirections and industrial policies. METHODS This observational study aims to characterize trends in global biopharma innovation activities throughout the global pandemic outbreak. Our extensive deal dataset is retrieved from the commercial database GlobalData (12,866 partnership deals and 32,250 fundraising deals announced between 2011 and 2022). We perform Chi-squared tests to examine the changes in qualitative deal attributes during and beyond the outbreak. Our deal-level sample is further aggregated into category-level panel data according to deal characteristics such as therapy area, molecule type, and development phase. We run a series of regressions to examine how the monthly investment amount raised in each category changed with the onset of the pandemic, controlling for the US Federal funds rate. RESULTS The temporary surge of partnership and capital-raising activities was associated with the increase in infectious disease-related deals. Academic and government institutions played an increased role in supporting COVID-related co-development partnerships in 2020, and biopharma ventures had been securing more investments in the capital market throughout 2020 and 2021. The partnership and investment boom did not last till the later pandemic in 2022. The most significant and enduring trend was the shifting focus toward discovery-phase investments. Our regression model reveals that the discovery-phase fundraising deals did not suffer from a bounce back in the late pandemic, consistent with a persistent focus on early innovation. CONCLUSIONS Despite the reduced level of partnership and fundraising activities during 2022, we observe a lasting change in focus toward biopharmaceutical innovation after the pandemic outbreak. Our evidence suggests how entrepreneurs and investors should allocate resources in response to the post-pandemic tight monetary environment. We also suggest the need for policy interventions in financing private/public co-development partnerships and non-COVID-related technologies, to maintain their research capacity and generate breakthroughs when faced with unforeseen diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tzu-Hui Yu
- Department of Economics, National Taiwan University, No. 1 Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yung-Yu Mei
- Science & Technology Policy Research and Information Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, No. 106, Heping East Road, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yufeng Jane Tseng
- Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University, No. 1 Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, No. 1 Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, Taiwan.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Schwarz ER, Long MT. Comparison of West Nile Virus Disease in Humans and Horses: Exploiting Similarities for Enhancing Syndromic Surveillance. Viruses 2023; 15:1230. [PMID: 37376530 DOI: 10.3390/v15061230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
West Nile virus (WNV) neuroinvasive disease threatens the health and well-being of horses and humans worldwide. Disease in horses and humans is remarkably similar. The occurrence of WNV disease in these mammalian hosts has geographic overlap with shared macroscale and microscale drivers of risk. Importantly, intrahost virus dynamics, the evolution of the antibody response, and clinicopathology are similar. The goal of this review is to provide a comparison of WNV infection in humans and horses and to identify similarities that can be exploited to enhance surveillance methods for the early detection of WNV neuroinvasive disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erika R Schwarz
- Montana Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, MT Department of Livestock, Bozeman, MT 59718, USA
| | - Maureen T Long
- Department of Comparative, Diagnostic, & Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Lessa CLS, Hodel KVS, Gonçalves MDS, Machado BAS. Dengue as a Disease Threatening Global Health: A Narrative Review Focusing on Latin America and Brazil. Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:tropicalmed8050241. [PMID: 37235289 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8050241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Arboviruses constitute the largest known group of viruses. These viruses are the etiological agents of pathologies known as arboviruses, with dengue being one of the most prevalent. Dengue has resulted in important socioeconomic burdens placed on different countries around the world, including those in Latin America, especially Brazil. Thus, this work intends to carry out a narrative-based review of the literature, conducted using a study of the secondary data developed through a survey of scientific literature databases, and to present the situation of dengue, particularly its distribution in these localities. Our findings from the literature demonstrate the difficulties that managers face in controlling the spread of and planning a response against dengue, pointing to the high cost of the disease for public coffers, rendering the resources that are already limited even scarcer. This can be associated with the different factors that affect the spread of the disease, including ecological, environmental, and social factors. Thus, in order to combat the disease, it is expected that targeted and properly coordinated public policies need to be adopted not only in specific localities, but also globally.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Letacio Silveira Lessa
- Postgraduate Program in Industrial Management and Technology, SENAI CIMATEC University Center, Salvador 41650-010, Brazil
- Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IGM-FIOCRUZ/BA), Salvador 40296-710, Brazil
| | - Katharine Valéria Saraiva Hodel
- SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Health Advanced Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), SENAI CIMATEC University Center, Salvador 41650-010, Brazil
| | - Marilda de Souza Gonçalves
- Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IGM-FIOCRUZ/BA), Salvador 40296-710, Brazil
- Anemia Research Laboratory, Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40170-115, Brazil
| | - Bruna Aparecida Souza Machado
- Postgraduate Program in Industrial Management and Technology, SENAI CIMATEC University Center, Salvador 41650-010, Brazil
- SENAI Institute of Innovation (ISI) in Health Advanced Systems (CIMATEC ISI SAS), SENAI CIMATEC University Center, Salvador 41650-010, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Castro-Amarante MFD, Pereira SS, Pereira LR, Santos LS, Venceslau-Carvalho AA, Martins EG, Balan A, Souza Ferreira LCD. The Anti-Dengue Virus Peptide DV2 Inhibits Zika Virus Both In Vitro and In Vivo. Viruses 2023; 15:v15040839. [PMID: 37112820 PMCID: PMC10143277 DOI: 10.3390/v15040839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The C-terminal portion of the E protein, known as stem, is conserved among flaviviruses and is an important target to peptide-based antiviral strategies. Since the dengue (DENV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses share sequences in the stem region, in this study we evaluated the cross-inhibition of ZIKV by the stem-based DV2 peptide (419–447), which was previously described to inhibit all DENV serotypes. Thus, the anti-ZIKV effects induced by treatments with the DV2 peptide were tested in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Molecular modeling approaches have demonstrated that the DV2 peptide interacts with amino acid residues exposed on the surface of pre- and postfusion forms of the ZIKA envelope (E) protein. The peptide did not have any significant cytotoxic effects on eukaryotic cells but efficiently inhibited ZIKV infectivity in cultivated Vero cells. In addition, the DV2 peptide reduced morbidity and mortality in mice subjected to lethal challenges with a ZIKV strain isolated in Brazil. Taken together, the present results support the therapeutic potential of the DV2 peptide against ZIKV infections and open perspectives for the development and clinical testing of anti-flavivirus treatments based on synthetic stem-based peptides.
Collapse
|