Project description:This study reports a screen to identify putative inhibitors of the eIF4F complex for potential effects on blocking coronavirus replication, using HCoV-OC43 (OC43) infection of Vero E6 cells and the lung epithelial cancer line A549 as models.
Project description:This study reports a screen to identify putative inhibitors of the eIF4F complex for potential effects on blocking coronavirus replication, using HCoV-OC43 (OC43) infection of Vero E6 cells and the lung epithelial cancer line A549 as models.
Project description:The translation initiation complex 4F (eIF4F) is a rate-limiting factor in protein synthesis. Alterations in eIF4F activity are linked to several diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases. To this end, coronaviruses require eIF4F complex activity to produce proteins essential for their life cycle. Efforts to target coronaviruses by abrogating translation have been largely limited to repurposing existing eIF4F complex inhibitors. Here, we report the results of a high throughput screen to identify small molecules that disrupt eIF4F complex formation and inhibit coronavirus RNA and protein levels. Of 338,000 small molecules screened for inhibition of the eIF4F-driven, CAP-dependent translation, we identified SBI-1232 and two structurally related analogs, SBI-5844 and SBI-0498, that inhibit human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43; OC43) with minimal cell toxicity. Notably, gene expression changes after OC43 infection of Vero E6 or A549 cells were effectively reverted upon treatment with SBI-5844 or SBI-0498. Moreover, SBI-5844 or SBI-0498 treatment effectively impeded the eIF4F complex assembly, with concomitant inhibition of newly synthesized OC43 nucleocapsid protein and OC43 RNA and protein levels. Overall, we identify SBI-5844 and SBI-0498 as small molecules targeting the eIF4F complex that may limit coronavirus transcripts and proteins, thereby representing a basis for developing novel therapeutic modalities against coronaviruses.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of N-Tera2 differentiated human neuronal cells, comparing control uninfected cells to HCoV-OC43 infected cells at 24, 48 and 72 hour post-infection Keywords: Cell response to viral infection Two-condition experiment, N-Tera2 differentiated human neuronal cell mock infected vs. N-Tera2 differentiated human neuronal cell HCoV-OC43 infected at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Biological replicates: 2 at each time-course point. Technical replicate: 2 dye-swap at each time-point. 2 arrays hybridized with mock(cy3) vs infected(cy5) and 2 array with infected(cy3) vs mock(cy5).
Project description:The emergence of novel betacoronaviruses has posed significant financial and human health burdens, necessitating the development of appropriate tools to combat future outbreaks. In this study, we have characterized a human cell line, IGROV-1, as a robust tool to detect, propagate, and titrate betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43. IGROV-1 cells can be used for serological assays, antiviral drug testing, and isolating SARS-CoV-2 variants from patient samples. Using time-course transcriptomics, we confirmed that IGROV-1 cells exhibit a robust innate immune response upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, recapitulating the response previously observed in primary human nasal epithelial cells. We performed genome-wide CRISPR knockout genetic screens in IGROV-1 cells and identified Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) as a critical host dependency factor for both SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43. Using DiMNF, a small molecule inhibitor of AHR, we observed that the drug selectively inhibits HCoV-OC43 infection but not SARS-CoV-2. Transcriptomic analysis in primary normal human bronchial epithelial cells revealed that DiMNF blocks HCoV-OC43 infection via basal activation of innate immune responses. Our findings highlight the potential of IGROV-1 cells as a valuable diagnostic and research tool to combat betacoronavirus diseases.
Project description:The coronavirus HCoV-OC43 circulates continuously in the human population and is a frequent cause of the common cold. Here, we generated a high-resolution atlas of the transcriptional and translational landscape of OC43 at various timepoints following infection of human lung fibroblasts. Using ribosome profiling, we quantified the relative expression of the canonical open reading frames (ORFs) and identified several unannotated ORFs, including short upstream ORFs and a putative ORF nested inside the M gene. In parallel, we analyzed the cellular response to infection. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response genes are transcriptionally and translationally induced, but conventional antiviral genes remain mostly suppressed. At the same time, we observed widespread aberrant translation across cellular transcripts, including over 3′UTRs and of noncoding transcripts normally targeted by the nonsense mediated decay pathway. Taken together, our work provides a genomic resource for further study of OC43 and the cellular response to infection.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of N-Tera2 differentiated human neuronal cells, comparing control uninfected cells to HCoV-OC43 infected cells at 24, 48 and 72 hour post-infection Keywords: Cell response to viral infection