A Cell-Based New Platform to Identify Drugs for Fighting Viral Diseases

A platform that was previously created for HIV is now used to monitor the biomolecular activity of viruses inside their host cells to combat the Dengue virus.

At the San Diego State University, a team of biologists have developed a platform for identifying drugs that could prove to be effective against a variety of viral diseases. The team used dengue virus as an example and they identified a novel drug which may someday be used to combat the disease.

Over the past several years, the researchers led by biologist Roland Wolkowicz have been developing cell-based platforms that can be used to monitor the biomolecular activity of viruses inside their host cells.

New Drug may Prevent Common Viral Disease in Stem-Cell Transplant Patients
In patients receiving a transplant of donated blood-making stem cells, a new drug can often prevent a common, sometimes severe viral disease.

Based on a platform previously created for HIV, Wolkowicz and his team built a new platform for dengue virus. The Wolkowicz team’s platform screens host cells to detect whether or not a particular protein function of dengue, known as pre-membrane protein (prM) cleavage, has occurred.

The prM cleavage process is important for new viral particles to be able to infect a host cell. Preventing the cleavage from happening could effectively stop the virus in its tracks.

"Cleavage is absolutely critical to the virus’s life cycle. While the role of prM cleavage is not completely understood, new particles won’t mature without it. By blocking prM cleavage, you clearly diminish the virus’s ability to infect other cells," explained Wolkowicz.

Study Sheds Light on What Makes Measles World's Most Contagious Viral Disease
The reason why measles is so much more contagious than other respiratory viruses has been discovered by Mayo Clinic researchers.

His lab’s technique embedded two biomolecular tags - a "red" tag and a "green" tag, so-called because of the fluorescent antibodies that detect them - inside an infected cell. The tags are designed in such a way that if cleavage occurs, one of them falls off.

Using this technique, the team tested 1,280 drug compounds to see whether any of them could block prM cleavage to yield a green tag, preventing a critical step in the dengue viral life cycle.

Researchers Discover Compound That can Fight Different Types of Viral Diseases
Researchers have identified a compound that inhibits the replication of different viruses, including the highly aggressive SARS virus that is responsible for severe acute respiratory

According to Wolkowicz, the results demonstrate just how robust and powerful their platform is for identifying drug candidates for fighting viruses.

Dengue infects between 50 and 100 million people each year and has no known vaccine or treatment. Some 22,000 people die each year from the disease, says a World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Chikungunya Virus may Soon Spread to the US
The first locally acquired case of chikungunya in America was reported in the Caribbean. Since then, chikungunya has been identified in 44 countries or territories throughout the Americas.

The studies were published in the Journal of Biomolecular Screening and the Journal of Visualized Experiments.

Source-IANS