Title | Screening of a Library of FDA-Approved Drugs Identifies Several Enterovirus Replication Inhibitors That Target Viral Protein 2C. | ||
Author | Ulferts, Rachel; de Boer, S Matthijn; van der Linden, Lonneke; Bauer, Lisa; Lyoo, Hey Rhyoung; Mate, Maria J; Lichiere, Julie; Canard, Bruno; Lelieveld, Daphne; Omta, Wienand; Egan, David; Coutard, Bruno; van Kuppeveld, Frank J M | ||
Journal | Antimicrob Agents Chemother | Publication Year/Month | 2016-May |
PMID | 26856848 | PMCID | PMC4862474 |
Affiliation + expend | 1.Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Virology Division, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. |
Enteroviruses (EVs) represent many important pathogens of humans. Unfortunately, no antiviral compounds currently exist to treat infections with these viruses. We screened the Prestwick Chemical Library, a library of approved drugs, for inhibitors of coxsackievirus B3, identified pirlindole as a potent novel inhibitor, and confirmed the inhibitory action of dibucaine, zuclopenthixol, fluoxetine, and formoterol. Upon testing of viruses of several EV species, we found that dibucaine and pirlindole inhibited EV-B and EV-D and that dibucaine also inhibited EV-A, but none of them inhibited EV-C or rhinoviruses (RVs). In contrast, formoterol inhibited all enteroviruses and rhinoviruses tested. All compounds acted through the inhibition of genome replication. Mutations in the coding sequence of the coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3) 2C protein conferred resistance to dibucaine, pirlindole, and zuclopenthixol but not formoterol, suggesting that 2C is the target for this set of compounds. Importantly, dibucaine bound to CV-B3 protein 2C in vitro, whereas binding to a 2C protein carrying the resistance mutations was reduced, providing an explanation for how resistance is acquired.