pnu-200577 and Disease-Models--Animal

When Zika virus emerged as a public health emergency there were no drugs or vaccines approved for its prevention or treatment. We used a high-throughput screen for Zika virus protease inhibitors to identify several inhibitors of Zika virus infection. We expressed the NS2B-NS3 Zika virus protease and conducted a biochemical screen for small-molecule inhibitors. A quantitative structure-activity relationship model was employed to virtually screen ∼138,000 compounds, which increased the identification of active compounds, while decreasing screening time and resources. Candidate inhibitors were validated in several viral infection assays. Small molecules with favorable clinical profiles, especially the five-lipoxygenase-activating protein inhibitor, MK-591, inhibited the Zika virus protease and infection in neural stem cells. Members of the tetracycline family of antibiotics were more potent inhibitors of Zika virus infection than the protease, suggesting they may have multiple mechanisms of action. The most potent tetracycline, methacycline, reduced the amount of Zika virus present in the brain and the severity of Zika virus-induced motor deficits in an immunocompetent mouse model. As Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, the tetracyclines could be quickly translated to the clinic. The compounds identified through our screening paradigm have the potential to be used as prophylactics for patients traveling to endemic regions or for the treatment of the neurological complications of Zika virus infection.

Topics: Animals; Antiviral Agents; Artificial Intelligence; Chlorocebus aethiops; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; High-Throughput Screening Assays; Immunocompetence; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Methacycline; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Protease Inhibitors; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship; Small Molecule Libraries; Vero Cells; Zika Virus; Zika Virus Infection

To examine the effect of combining a nonselective muscarinic receptor antagonist, 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine (an active metabolite of fesoterodine), with a β3 adrenoceptor agonist, mirabegron, in a rat model of pelvic congestion.. The rat pelvic congestion model used female Sprague-Dawley rats with their bilateral common iliac and uterine veins ligated. Expressions of M2 and M3 receptor subtypes in the urothelium and detrusor were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction assays. The effects of both drugs were investigated on isolated bladder strips contracted by electrical field stimulation. in vivo single cystometry was used to assess the effects of 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine and mirabegron independently or in combination on bladder capacity, micturition pressure, and threshold pressure.. Pelvic congestion rats showed decreased bladder capacity compared with controls, but micturition pressure and threshold pressure were unchanged. Pelvic congestion model rats also demonstrated an approximately two-fold increase in expression of both M2 and M3 receptor subtypes in the urothelium. Additive relaxant effects of 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine and mirabegron were observed in vitro in the electrical field stimulation-induced contractions of bladder strips from pelvic congestion rats. In vivo, bladder capacity was increased significantly by a combination of 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine and mirabegron, with the combined effect exceeding the sum of the effects of monotherapies. Micturition pressure and threshold pressure did not significantly differ between groups.. The combination of 5-hydroxymethyl tolterodine with mirabegron suggests the potential of synergistic effects in a rat pelvic congestion model.

Topics: Acetanilides; Adrenergic beta-3 Receptor Agonists; Animals; Benzhydryl Compounds; Cresols; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Monitoring; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Muscarinic Antagonists; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Thiazoles; Treatment Outcome; Urinary Bladder, Overactive