Structure-based discovery of two antiviral inhibitors targeting the NS3 helicase of Japanese encephalitis virus.

ABSTRACT: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a flavivirus that threatens more than half of the world's population. Vaccination can prevent the disease, but no specific antiviral drug is yet available for clinical therapy, and the death rate caused by JEV can reach as high as 60%. The C-terminus of non-structural protein 3 (NS3) of flavivirus encodes helicase and has been identified as a potential drug target. In this study, high throughput molecular docking was employed to identify candidate JEV NS3 helicase inhibitors in a commercial library containing 250,000 compounds. Forty-one compounds were then tested for their ability to inhibit NS3 activity. Two compounds inhibited unwinding activity strongly but had no effect on the ATPase activity of the protein. Western blots, IFA, and plaque reduction

SUBMITTER: Fang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5041104 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature