The Artemisinin-Derived Autofluorescent Compound BG95 Exerts Strong Anticytomegaloviral Activity Based on a Mitochondrial Targeting Mechanism.

ABSTRACT: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major human pathogen associated with severe pathology. Current options of antiviral therapy only partly satisfy the needs of a well-tolerated long-term treatment/prophylaxis free from drug-induced viral resistance. Recently, we reported the strong antiviral properties in vitro and in vivo of the broad-spectrum anti-infective drug artesunate and its optimized derivatives. NF-κB signaling was described as a targeting mechanism and additional target proteins have recently been identified. Here, we analyzed the autofluorescent hybrid compound BG95, which could be utilized for intracellular visualization by confocal imaging and a tracking analysis in virus-infected primary human fibroblasts. As an important finding, BG95 accumulated in mitochondria visualized b

SUBMITTER: Wild M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7432203 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature