Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting | Ascona 2026

Mechanobiology of Infection

Poster Abstracts

20-POS Board 20 A QUANTITATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY OF A SERIES OF RHINOVIRUS-BINDING COMPOUNDS, AND THEIR EFFECTS ON VIRION THERMOSTABILITY AND MECHANICAL STIFFNESS Valentin Riomoros-Barahona ; Juan Carlos Gil-Redondo; Luis Valiente; Alejandro Valbuena; Mauricio G. Mateu Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (UAM-CSIC), Madrid, Spain Human rhinoviruses (RV) constitute one of the most widespread groups of human pathogens. Despite their serious socioeconomic and medical impact, no anti-RV drugs have been approved so far. Increasing evidence suggests the possibility to develop antiviral drugs that target biologically relevant physical properties of virus particles. In this study atomic force microscopy, biochemical and biological assays were used to investigate the mechanism by which chemically related virion-binding compounds impair RV infectivity. The results showed that those compounds increase both the thermal stability and the mechanical stiffness of the RV virion. Moreover, their antiviral activity was quantitatively correlated with their effect on virion thermostability and stiffness. These results indicate that these antiviral compounds impair virus infection because they reduce virion flexibility and, as a consequence, impair the uncoating of the viral genome required for viral infection. This work underscores the role of physical virology studies in understanding the virus infection process, and support the possibility of therapeutic intervention based on the development of drugs that modulate the mechanical properties of viruses.

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