Generation and characterization of Japanese encephalitis virus expressing GFP reporter gene for high throughput drug screening.

In this study, we constructed a full-length infectious clone of eGFP-JEV reporter virus by inserting the eGFP gene into the capsid-coding region of the viral genome. The reporter virus RNA transfected-BHK-21 cells generated robust eGFP fluorescence signals that were correlated well with viral replication. The reporter virus displayed growth kinetics similar to wild type (WT) virus although replicated a little slower. Using a known JEV inhibitor, NITD008, we demonstrated that the reporter virus could be used to identify inhibitors against JEV. Furthermore, an eGFP-JEV-based high throughput screening (HTS) assay was established in a 96-well format and used for screening of 1,443 FDA-approved drugs. Sixteen hit drugs were identified to be active against JEV. Among them, five compounds which are lonafarnib, cetylpyridinium chlorid, cetrimonium bromide, nitroxoline and hexachlorophene, are newly discovered inhibitors of JEV, providing potential new therapies for treatment of JEV infection.
PMID: 32750466 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Antiviral Research - July 31, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Zhang ZR, Zhang HQ, Li XD, Deng CL, Wang Z, Li JQ, Li N, Zhang QY, Zhang HL, Zhang B, Ye HQ Tags: Antiviral Res Source Type: research