Elsevier

Virology

Volume 384, Issue 1, 5 February 2009, Pages 242-252
Virology

A single-amino acid substitution in West Nile virus 2K peptide between NS4A and NS4B confers resistance to lycorine, a flavivirus inhibitor

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2008.11.003Get rights and content
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Abstract

Lycorine potently inhibits flaviviruses in cell culture. At 1.2-μM concentration, lycorine reduced viral titers of West Nile (WNV), dengue, and yellow fever viruses by 102- to 104-fold. However, the compound did not inhibit an alphavirus (Western equine encephalitis virus) or a rhabdovirus (vesicular stomatitis virus), indicating a selective antiviral spectrum. The compound exerts its antiviral activity mainly through suppression of viral RNA replication. A Val  Met substitution at the 9th amino acid position of the viral 2K peptide (spanning the endoplasmic reticulum membrane between NS4A and NS4B proteins) confers WNV resistance to lycorine, through enhancement of viral RNA replication. Initial chemistry synthesis demonstrated that modifications of the two hydroxyl groups of lycorine can increase the compound's potency, while reducing its cytotoxicity. Taken together, the results have established lycorine as a flavivirus inhibitor for antiviral development. The lycorine-resistance results demonstrate a direct role of the 2K peptide in flavivirus RNA synthesis.

Keywords

Flavivirus replication
Antiviral
West Nile virus
Flavivirus 2K peptide
Viral resistance

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