Brevinin-2GHk, a Peptide Derived from the Skin of , Inhibits Zika Virus Infection by Disrupting Viral Integrity.
Weichen Xiong, Jingyan Li, Yifei Feng, Jinwei Chai, Jiena Wu, Yunrui Hu, Maolin Tian, Wancheng Lu, Xueqing Xu, Min Zou
Author Information
Weichen Xiong: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. ORCID
Jingyan Li: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Yifei Feng: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Jinwei Chai: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Jiena Wu: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Yunrui Hu: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Maolin Tian: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Wancheng Lu: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Xueqing Xu: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Min Zou: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Several years have passed since the Zika virus (ZIKV) pandemic reoccurred in 2015-2016. However, there is still a lack of proved protective vaccines or effective drugs against ZIKV. The peptide brevinin-2GHk (BR2GK), pertaining to the brevinin-2 family of antimicrobial peptides, has been reported to exhibit only weak antibacterial activity, and its antiviral effects have not been investigated. Thus, we analyzed the effect of BR2GK on ZIKV infection. BR2GK showed significant inhibitory activity in the early and middle stages of ZIKV infection, with negligible cytotoxicity. Furthermore, BR2GK was suggested to bind with ZIKV E protein and disrupt the integrity of the envelope, thus directly inactivating ZIKV. In addition, BR2GK can also penetrate the cell membrane, which may contribute to inhibition of the middle stage of ZIKV infection. BR2GK blocked ZIKV E protein expression with an IC of 3.408 ± 0.738 μΜ. In summary, BR2GK was found to be a multi-functional candidate and a potential lead compound for further development of anti-ZIKV drugs.
