Secretome Screening Reveals Fibroblast Growth Factors as Novel Inhibitors of Viral Replication

Abstract

Viruses infect human cells in order to replicate, while human cells aim to resist infection. Several cellular antiviral programs have therefore evolved to resist infection. Knowledge of these programs is essential for the design of antiviral therapeutics in the future. The induction of antiviral programs is often initiated by secreted proteins, such as interferons. We hypothesized that other secreted proteins may also promote resistance to viral infection. Thus, we tested 756 human secreted proteins for the capacity to inhibit two pseudotypes of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). In this secretome screen on viral infection, we identified fibroblast growth factor 16 (FGF16) as a novel antiviral against multiple VSV pseudotypes as well as coxsackievirus. Subsequent testing of other FGF family members revealed that FGF signaling generally inhibits viral infection. This finding may lead to the development of new antivirals and may also be applicable for enhancing oncolytic virus therapy.