Liver Organoids From Hepatocytes of Healthy Humans and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Patients Display Multilineage Architecture and can be Used to Develop an Model of Steatohepatitis.

Background/aim: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global health concern with limited treatment options. The paucity of predictive   models in preclinical settings seems to be one of the limitations of identifying effective medicines. We therefore aimed to develop an   model that can display the key hallmarks of NAFLD, such as steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis.

Withaferin A inhibits Chikungunya virus nsP2 protease and shows antiviral activity in the cell culture and mouse model of virus infection.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus causing fever, myalgia, and debilitating joint swelling and pain, which in many patients becomes chronic. The frequent epidemics of CHIKV across the world pose a significant public health burden necessitating the development of effective antiviral therapeutics. A cellular imaging-based high-content screening of natural compounds identified withaferin A (WFA), a steroidal lactone isolated from the plant Withania somnifera, as a potent antiviral against CHIKV.

SMCVdb: a database of experimental cellular toxicity information for drug candidate molecules.

Many drug discovery exercises fail because small molecules that are effective inhibitors of target proteins exhibit high cellular toxicity. Early and effective assessment of toxicity and pharmacokinetics is essential to accelerate the drug discovery process. Conventional methods for toxicity profiling, including in vitro and in vivo assays, are laborious and resource-intensive.

High content screening strategies for large-scale compound libraries with a focus on high-containment viruses.

A majority of viral diseases do not have FDA-approved drugs. The recent outbreaks caused by SARS-CoV-2, monkeypox, and Sudan ebolavirus have exposed the critical need for rapid screening and identification of antiviral compounds against emerging/re-emerging viral pathogens. A high-content screening (HCS) platform is becoming an essential part of the drug discovery process, thanks to developments in image acquisition and analysis.