Biophysical Society Conference | Estes Park 2023

Membrane Budding and Fusion

Poster Abstracts

22-POS Board 8 NATURAL COMPOUNDS AS ANTIVIRAL CANDIDATES AGAINST HUMAN RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS (HRSV) Jéssica M de Sá 1,2 ; Fatima P de Souza 1 ; Icaro P Caruso 1 ; Mark E Peeples 2 ; 1 Institute of Biosciences, Letters and Exact Sciences, UNESP, Department of Physics and Multiuser Center of Biomolecular Innovation, São José do Rio Preto, Brazil 2 Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Center for Vaccines and Immunity, Columbus, OH, USA Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is a major cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants and young children, making it the most common cause of hospitalization globally. Nearly all children, by the age of 2 years have been infected by hRSV. Elderly people are also very susceptible to hRSV infection making it the second most frequent cause of death in Winter, after influenza virus. Currently, there is a licensed hRSV vaccination for adults and a monoclonal antibody (Palivizumab) that can be given to newborns who are at high risk of severe hRSV disease due to premature delivery or cardiac abnormalities, but does not have a specific drug against hRSV. In this context, flavonoids and coumarins have antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral properties, are secondary metabolites that occur naturally in plants and fungi, which promotes significant visibility in the pharmaceutical field, giving these molecules an attractive feature in the design of new therapeutic strategies. We previously analyzed the interaction of coumarins (coumarin (1,2 Benzopyrone), esculetin (6,7- Dihydroxycoumarin), esculin (6,7- Dihydroxycoumarin- 6- glucoside) and 4-methyl esculetin (5,7- Dihydroxycoumarin- 4- methylcoumarin)) and hesperetin with the hRSV nucleoprotein by biophysical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence anisotropy. Results revealed specific interaction of two of the molecules (1-2 benzopyrone and hesperetin), in a specific region of the nucleoprotein in which the RSV phosphoprotein binds for virus replication to occur. The present study aims to analyze whether there is viral inhibition (anti-hRSV) of coumarins, hesperetine and also of some molecules adapted by chemical modifications in both classes of molecules, in HEp 2 cells and HBE cultures. As a result of our research, we intend to investigate whether coumarins and hesperetine inhibit hRSV and where the compounds act in the life cycle of the virus.

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