{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Bigotti MG"],"funding":["European Research Council","University of Bristol","Medical Research Council","University of Helsinki Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences","Wellcome Trust"],"pagination":["105837"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7616797"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["224"],"pubmed_abstract":["The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need to develop effective therapeutics in preparedness for further epidemics of virus infections that pose a significant threat to human health. As a natural compound antiviral candidate, we focused on α-dystroglycan, a highly glycosylated basement membrane protein that links the extracellular matrix to the intracellular cytoskeleton. Here we show that the N-terminal fragment of α-dystroglycan (α-DGN), as produced in E. coli in the absence of post-translational modifications, blocks infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture, human primary gut organoids and the lungs of transgenic mice expressing the human receptor angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Prophylactic and therapeutic administration of α-DGN reduced SARS-CoV-2 lung titres and protected the mice from respiratory symptoms and death. Recombinant α-DGN also blocked infection of a wide range of enveloped viruses including the four Dengue virus serotypes, influenza A virus, respiratory syncytial virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, but not human adenovirus, a non-enveloped virus in vitro. This study establishes soluble recombinant α-DGN as a broad-band, natural compound candidate therapeutic against enveloped viruses."],"journal":["Antiviral research"],"pubmed_title":["The α-dystroglycan N-terminus is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 and enveloped viruses."],"pmcid":["PMC7616797"],"funding_grant_id":["MR/V027506/1","MR/W005611/1","856581","222064","222064/Z/20/Z"],"pubmed_authors":["Butcher SJ","Balistreri G","Brancaccio A","Andersson S","Katajisto P","Erdmann M","Klein K","Gan ES","Anastasina M","Ooi EE","Davidson AD","Bigotti MG","Collinson I","Yamauchi Y","Vapalahti O"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"The α-dystroglycan N-terminus is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 and enveloped viruses.","description":"The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need to develop effective therapeutics in preparedness for further epidemics of virus infections that pose a significant threat to human health. As a natural compound antiviral candidate, we focused on α-dystroglycan, a highly glycosylated basement membrane protein that links the extracellular matrix to the intracellular cytoskeleton. Here we show that the N-terminal fragment of α-dystroglycan (α-DGN), as produced in E. coli in the absence of post-translational modifications, blocks infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture, human primary gut organoids and the lungs of transgenic mice expressing the human receptor angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Prophylactic and therapeutic administration of α-DGN reduced SARS-CoV-2 lung titres and protected the mice from respiratory symptoms and death. Recombinant α-DGN also blocked infection of a wide range of enveloped viruses including the four Dengue virus serotypes, influenza A virus, respiratory syncytial virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, but not human adenovirus, a non-enveloped virus in vitro. This study establishes soluble recombinant α-DGN as a broad-band, natural compound candidate therapeutic against enveloped viruses.","dates":{"release":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2024 Apr","modification":"2026-06-02T04:02:42.561Z","creation":"2025-04-21T21:41:27.224Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC7616797","cross_references":{"pubmed":["38387750"],"doi":["10.1016/j.antiviral.2024.105837"]}}