Some biological properties of a rhabdovirus isolated from penaeid shrimps

In silico, in ovo and in vitro antiviral efficacy of phosphorylated derivatives of abacavir: an experimental approach

Outstanding increase of oral absorption, bioavailability, and antiviral efficacy of phosphorylated nucleosides and basic antiviral influence of abacavir is the central idea for the development of new series of phosphorylated abacavir (ABC) derivatives. The designed compounds were primarily screened for antiviral nature against HN protein of NDV and VP7 protein of BTV using the molecular environment approach. Out of all the designed compounds, the compounds which are having higher binding energies against these two viral strains were prompted for the synthesis of the target compounds (5A-K). Among the synthesized title compounds (5A-K), the compounds which have exhibited higher dock scores akin to the rest of the compounds were then selected and screened for the antiviral activity against NDV and BTV infected embryonated eggs and BHK 21 cell lines through the in ovo and in vitro approaches. The results revealed that all the designed compounds have formed higher binding energies against both the targets. Among all, the compounds which are selected based on their dock scores such as 5A, 5F, 5G, 5H, 5I, and 5K against NDV and 5J, 5E, 5I, 5C, 5A, and 5K against BTV have shown significant antiviral activity against HN protein of NDV, VP7 protein of Bluetongue virus in both NDV- and BTV-treated embryonated eggs and BHK 21 cell lines. Hence, it is concluded that, the best lead compounds will stand as the potential antiviral agents and prompted them as virtuous therapeutics against NDV and BTV in future.

Antiviral activities and putative identification of compounds in microbial extracts from the Hawaiian coastal waters

Marine environments are a rich source of significant bioactive compounds. The Hawaiian archipelago, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hosts diverse microorganisms, including many endemic species. Thirty-eight microbial extracts from Hawaiian coastal waters were evaluated for their antiviral activity against four mammalian viruses including herpes simplex virus type one (HSV-1), vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), vaccinia virus and poliovirus type one (poliovirus-1) using in vitro cell culture assay. Nine of the 38 microbial crude extracts showed antiviral potencies and three of these nine microbial extracts exhibited significant activity against the enveloped viruses. A secosteroid, 5α(H),17α(H),(20R)-beta-acetoxyergost-8(14)-ene was putatively identified and confirmed to be the active compound in these marine microbial extracts. These results warrant future in-depth tests on the isolation of these active elements in order to explore and validate their antiviral potential as important therapeutic remedies.

In vitro evaluation of marine-microorganism extracts for anti-viral activity

Viral-induced infectious diseases represent a major health threat and their control remains an unachieved goal, due in part to the limited availability of effective anti-viral drugs and measures. The use of natural products in drug manufacturing is an ancient and well-established practice. Marine organisms are known producers of pharmacological and anti-viral agents. In this study, a total of 20 extracts from marine microorganisms were evaluated for their antiviral activity. These extracts were tested against two mammalian viruses, herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), using Vero cells as the cell culture system, and two marine virus counterparts, channel catfish virus (CCV) and snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV), in their respective cell cultures (CCO and EPC). Evaluation of these extracts demonstrated that some possess antiviral potential. In sum, extracts 162M(4), 258M(1), 298M(4), 313(2), 331M(2), 367M(1) and 397(1) appear to be effective broad-spectrum antivirals with potential uses as prophylactic agents to prevent infection, as evident by their highly inhibitive effects against both virus types. Extract 313(2) shows the most potential in that it showed significantly high inhibition across all tested viruses. The samples tested in this study were crude extracts; therefore the development of antiviral application of the few potential extracts is dependent on future studies focused on the isolation of the active elements contained in these extracts.

Development of an in vitro quantal assay in primary cell cultures for a non-occluded baculo-like virus of penaeid shrimp

An in vitro quantal assay (TCID50) for a non-occluded baculo-like virus isolate from naturally infected Penaeus japonicus obtained from China and experimentally infected P. stylirostris was developed using primary shrimp lymphoid cell cultures in Primaria 24-well tissue culture plates. The virus caused cytopathogenic effect (CPE) in the cell cultures as early as 2 day post-infection (p.i.). Initially, the cells rounded up and finally detached from the culture vessel as the infection progressed. At the present time, there is no established quantitative in vitro cell culture protocol for the assay of this baculo-like virus which has been reported by our laboratory to be highly pathogenic for P. stylirostris and P. vannamei, the two species of penaeid shrimp commercially cultured in Hawaii and the Western hemisphere. This quantal assay thus provides a simple and convenient method for the detection and assay of infectious virus in cultured penaeid shrimp.

Viral pathogens of the penaeid shrimp

While significant advances that have been made in determining the role of viruses involved in various epizootics occurring in penned shrimp aquaculture, viral diseases will continue to plague the industry. A major obstacle to the study of these diseases is the lack of convenient and quantitative methodologies, such as in vitro cell culture systems to grow and study (characterize) the virus. A beginning has been made with the recent development of protocols for the consistent preparation of primary shrimp lymphoid cells, which were employed for the quanta1 assay of some of the shrimp viral pathogens. The primary cell lines have also been used to analyze the synthesis of viral proteins at the cellular level and to study viral pathogenesis. With the further successful development of additional primary cell lines from other shrimp tissues and the establishment of continuous diploid and transformed shrimp cell lines, this problem is being solved. The value of cell culture systems is becoming increasingly clear. They present several obvious advantages because (1) they are more cost effective, sensitive, and convenient than whole animals, particularly for rapid monitoring of infectivity, (2) they yield quantitatively reproducible results, and (3) viral growth kinetics, biochemical and genetic characteristics, and so on can be studied more easily. Their biggest potential use is in future molecular biology and genetic studies of shrimp viruses.

Development of a quantal assay in primary shrimp cell culture for yellow head baculovirus (YBV) of penaeid shrimp

A 50% tissue culture infectious dose assay (TCID50) using primary culture of shrimp lymphoid organ (Oka) cells was developed for the quantitative titration of yellow-head baculovirus (YBV), a newly isolated virus of penaeid shrimp. The assay protocol includes the use of Primaria-grade 96-well tissue culture plates to grow the primary lymphoid organ cells of penaeid shrimp. A 15% gill suspension from YBV-infected shrimp was determined to have an infectious virus titer of 5 x 10(5.75) TCID50/ml. This report represents the first convenient assay protocol using cell culture derived from penaeid shrimp to titer a shrimp virus.