Development of a novel fluorogenic assay method for screening inhibitors of bovine leukemia virus protease and identification of mitorubrinic acid as an anti-BLV compound

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) causes enzootic bovine leukosis, a fatal cattle disease that leads to significant economic losses in the livestock industry. Currently, no effective BLV countermeasures exist, except testing and culling. In this study, we developed a high-throughput fluorogenic assay to evaluate the inhibitory activity of various compounds on BLV protease, an essential enzyme for viral replication. The developed assay method was used to screen a chemical library, and mitorubrinic acid was identified as a BLV protease inhibitor that exhibited stronger inhibitory activity than amprenavir. Additionally, the anti-BLV activity of both compounds was evaluated using a cell-based assay, and mitorubrinic acid was found to exhibit inhibitory activity without cytotoxicity. This study presents the first report of a natural inhibitor of BLV protease—mitorubrinic acid—a potential candidate for the development of anti-BLV drugs. The developed method can be used for high-throughput screening of large-scale chemical libraries.