Pathway analysis of host responses to dengue virus serotype 2 infection and inhibition of viral envelope protein by naringenin from .

Dengue fever cases are spiking over the last two decades. Incessant efforts are still being made to gain deeper insights on this arboviral disease and to identify bioactive antivirals. In this study, bioinformatics analysis was conducted to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the expression profiling datasets of dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV2) patients.

Chemical Compounds and Computational Prediction of Their Inhibitory Effects on the HIV-1 gp120 Receptor by Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (Agaricomycetes), with Antler-Like Morphology of Fruiting Bodies.

In this study, crude extracts of Ganoderma lucidum (NGCs) were compared to the crude extracts of G. lucidum that has antler-like fruiting bodies (AGCs) for their cytotoxicity, inhibitory effects on the attachment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 glycoprotein 120 (gp120) to cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4), identification and molecular docking simulations of chemical compounds to predict the best ligand inhibitor and the binding mechanism. Results showed that AGCs had a higher percentage of inhibition (54.

Doxycycline Interferes with Zika Virus Serine Protease and Inhibits Virus Replication in Human Skin Fibroblasts.

Zika virus (ZIKV) represents a re-emerging threat to global health due to its association with congenital birth defects. ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease is crucial for virus replication by cleaving viral polyprotein at various junctions to release viral proteins and cause cytotoxic effects in ZIKV-infected cells. This study characterized the inhibitory effects of doxycycline against ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease and viral replication in human skin cells.

Cell-Based High-Throughput Screening Protocol for Discovering Antiviral Inhibitors Against SARS-COV-2 Main Protease (3CLpro).

The global public health has been compromised since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late December 2019. There are no specific antiviral drugs available to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. Besides the rapid dissemination of SARS-CoV-2, several variants have been identified with a potential epidemiologic and pathogenic variation.

The identification of active compounds in extract inhibiting dengue virus serine protease and its computational studies.

The number of global dengue incidences is alarmingly high in recent years. The global distribution of four dengue serotypes has also added economic burden in the dengue-endemic countries. To discover the potent dengue virus inhibitors in the antler form of (Lingzhi or Reishi), the water extraction of normal and its antler form were conducted and the chemical compounds were identified by LC-MS.

Small molecule grp94 inhibitors block dengue and Zika virus replication.

Two major flaviviruses, dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), cause severe health and economic burdens worldwide. Recently, genome-wide screenings have uncovered the importance of regulators of the Hrd1 ubiquitin ligase-mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway for flavivirus replication in host cells. Here we report the identification of the compound Bardoxolone methyl (CDDO-me) as a potent inhibitor of the Hrd1 ubiquitin ligase-mediated ERAD, which possesses a broad-spectrum activity against both DENV and ZIKV.

In vitro and in silico studies of chalcone synthase variant 2 in Boesenbergia rotunda and its substrate specificity.

In this study, transformation of BrCHS var 2 into B. rotunda cell suspension culture, followed by chalcone synthase enzymatic assay and HPLC analysis was conducted to investigate whether the substrate specificity for BrCHS var 2 is either cinnamoyl-CoA or p-coumaroyl-CoA. The HPLC profile showed an increase in the amount of pinocembrin chalcone when cinnamoyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA were added but not p-coumaroyl-CoA.

Vaccine research and development: tuberculosis as a global health threat.

One of the aims of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is to reduce the number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) infection by the year 2015. However, 9 million new cases were reported in 2013, with an estimated 480,000 new cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) globally. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most available and currently used candidate vaccine against tuberculosis; it prevents childhood TB, but its effectiveness against pulmonary TB in adults and adolescents is disputed.

NMDA receptor antagonism with novel indolyl, 2-(1,1-Dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-benzo[e]indol-2-ylidene)-malonaldehyde, reduces seizures duration in a rat model of epilepsy.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) play a central role in epileptogensis and NMDAR antagonists have been shown to have antiepileptic effects in animals and humans. Despite significant progress in the development of antiepileptic therapies over the previous 3 decades, a need still exists for novel therapies. We screened an in-house library of small molecules targeting the NMDA receptor.

Mefenamic acid in combination with ribavirin shows significant effects in reducing chikungunya virus infection in vitro and in vivo.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection is a persistent problem worldwide due to efficient adaptation of the viral vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. Therefore, the absence of effective anti-CHIKV drugs to combat chikungunya outbreaks often leads to a significant impact on public health care. In this study, we investigated the antiviral activity of drugs that are used to alleviate infection symptoms, namely, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), on the premise that active compounds with potential antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities could be directly subjected for human use to treat CHIKV infections.

Scalable Production of Recombinant Membrane Active Peptides and Its Potential as a Complementary Adjunct to Conventional Chemotherapeutics.

The production of short anticancer peptides in recombinant form is an alternative method for costly chemical manufacturing. However, the limitations of host toxicity, bioactivity and column purification have impaired production in mass quantities. In this study, short cationic peptides were produced in aggregated inclusion bodies by double fusion with a central protein that has anti-cancer activity.

A combination of doxycycline and ribavirin alleviated chikungunya infection.

Lack of vaccine and effective antiviral drugs against chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreaks have led to significant impact on health care in the developing world. Here, we evaluated the antiviral effects of tetracycline (TETRA) derivatives and other common antiviral agents against CHIKV. Our results showed that within the TETRA derivatives group, Doxycycline (DOXY) exhibited the highest inhibitory effect against CHIKV replication in Vero cells.

The evolutionary strata of DARPP-32 tail implicates hierarchical functional expansion in higher vertebrates.

DARPP-32 (dopamine and adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein of 32 kDa), which belongs to PPP1R1 gene family, is known to act as an important integrator in dopamine-mediated neurotransmission via the inhibition of protein phosphatase-1 (PP1). Besides its neuronal roles, this protein also behaves as a key player in pathological and pharmacological aspects. Use of bioinformatics and phylogenetics approaches to further characterize the molecular features of DARPP-32 can guide future works.