Affiliation:
1. Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, New York, USA
Abstract
The alphavirus chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an example of an emerging human pathogen with increased and rapid global spread. Although an acute CHIKV infection is rarely fatal, many patients suffer from debilitating chronic arthralgia for years. Antivirals against chikungunya and other alphaviruses have been identified
in vitro
, but to date none have been shown to be efficacious and have been licensed for human use. Here, we investigated a small molecule, berberine chloride (BBC), and showed that it inhibited infectious virus production by several alphaviruses including CHIKV. BBC acted on a late step in the alphavirus exit pathway, namely the formation of the nucleocapsid containing the infectious viral RNA. Better understanding of nucleocapsid formation and its inhibition by BBC will provide important information on the mechanisms of infectious alphavirus production and may enable their future targeting in antiviral strategies.
Funder
HHS | NIH | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Cited by
20 articles.
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