The goal of the protocol is to illustrate the different assays relating to viral entry that can be used to identify candidate viral entry inhibitors.
Antiviral assays that mechanistically examine viral entry are pertinent to discern at which step the evaluated agents are most effective, and allow for the identification of candidate viral entry inhibitors. Here, we present the experimental approaches for the identification of small molecules capable of blocking infection by the non-enveloped coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) through targeting the virus particles or specific steps in early viral entry. Assays include the time-of-drug-addition analysis, flow cytometry-based viral binding assay, and viral inactivation assay. We also present a molecular docking protocol utilizing virus capsid proteins to predict potential residues targeted by the antiviral compounds. These assays should help in the identification of candidate antiviral agents that act on viral entry. Future directions can explore these possible inhibitors for further drug development.
Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a disease most commonly caused by coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) and enterovirus 71 (EV71) in young children. Recently across the Asia-Pacific region, there has been a significant uptick in CVA16-induced HFMD. While symptoms can be mild, severe complications can occur that affect the brain and the heart, with potential fatality1,2. At present, there are no licensed antiviral therapies or vaccinations available for CVA16, and thus there is a pressing need to develop antiviral strategies to curb future outbreaks and the associated complications.
CVA16 is a non-enveloped virus which has an icosahedral capsid assembled from pentamers that each contain 4 structural proteins namely VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4. Encircling each five-fold axis in the pentamer is a 'canyon' region that shows as a depression and is noted for its role in receptor binding3. At the bottom of this canyon lies a hydrophobic pocket in the VP1 region that contains a natural fatty ligand named sphingosine (SPH). Cellular receptors, such as human P selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1) and scavenger receptor class B member 2 (SCARB2), have been suggested to play a role in viral binding by displacing this ligand which results in conformational changes to the capsid and the subsequent ejection of viral genome into the host cell4,5,6. Identifying possible inhibitors that block the successive events in the viral entry process could provide potential therapeutic strategies against CVA16 infection.
The steps in the virus life cycle can be dissected through experimental approaches as targets to help identify mode-specific antiviral agents. A time-of-drug-addition analysis examines the drug treatment effect at different times during the viral infection, including pre-entry (added prior to the virus infection), entry (added concurrent to the virus infection), and post-entry (added following the virus infection)7. The impact can be assessed using a standard plaque assay by quantitating the number of viral plaques formed in each of the treatment conditions. The flow cytometry-based viral binding assay determines if the drug prevents viral attachment to host cells. This is achieved by shifting the temperature from 37 °C, at which the majority of human virus infections occur, to 4 °C, where the virions are able to bind to the host cell surface but are unable to enter the cells7. The cell membrane-bound virus particles are then quantified through immunostaining against viral antigens and assessed by flow cytometry. The viral inactivation assay on the other hand helps to assess potential physical interactions of the drug with free virus particles, either shielding or neutralizing the virions, or causing aggregations or conformational changes that render them inactive for subsequent interactions with the host cell surface during the infection8,9. In this experiment, the viral inoculum is allowed to first incubate with the drug before being diluted to titrate out the drug prior to infecting the host cell monolayer and performing a standard plaque assay8. Finally, molecular docking is a powerful tool to predict potential drug interaction sites on the virion surface, including the viral glycoproteins from enveloped viruses and the viral capsid proteins from non-enveloped viruses, by using computational algorithms. This helps to mechanistically pinpoint targets of the drug's mode of action and provide useful information that can be further validated by downstream assays.
We recently employed the above described methods to identify antiviral compounds that efficiently blocked infection by the non-enveloped CVA169. Herein, the detailed protocols that were used are described and discussed.
NOTE: All cell culture and virus infections must be conducted in certified biosafety hoods that are appropriate for the biosafety level of the samples being handled. The two tannin-class of small molecules chebulagic acid (CHLA) and punicalagin (PUG), that were observed to efficiently block CVA16 infection9, are used as examples of candidate inhibitory agents. For basic principles in virology techniques, virus propagation, determination of virus titer, and concepts of plaque forming units (PFU) or multiplicity of infection (MOI), the reader is referred to reference10.
1. Cell Culture, Virus Preparation, Compound Preparation, and Compound Cytotoxicity
2. Time-of-drug-addition Assay
3. Flow Cytometry-based Binding Assay
4. Viral Inactivation Assay
5. Molecular Docking Analysis
The time-of-drug-addition assay is indicated in Figure 1 and shows the influence from treatment using the small molecules CHLA and PUG on CVA16 infection either pre-viral entry (pretreatment), during viral entry (co-addition), or post-viral entry (post-infection). Both small molecules only produced marginal impact against CVA16 infectivity whether in the pretreatment of the host cells prior to viral infection (Figure 1A) or in the post-infection treatment (Figure 1C). In contrast, CHLA and PUG efficiently abrogated the CVA16 infection by >80% in the co-addition treatment (Figure 1B). These observations therefore suggest that the two compounds are most effective when they are concurrently present with the virus particles on the host cell surface during the infection.
In Figure 2, the flow cytometry-based binding analysis (schematically illustrated in Figure 2A) confirms that the two tannins prevent CVA16 entry by preventing the viral particle binding to the host cells. The quantification data in Figure 2B shows that the amount of virus detected on the RD cell surface in the presence of the two drugs, is less than 10%, similar to the heparin positive control which is known to prevent CVA16 attachment14. Figure 2C, 2D, and 2E depict the associated flow cytometry histograms where the band shift due to detection of CVA16 on the RD cell surface is significantly reduced when CHLA and PUG are present.
Figure 3A depict how the viral inactivation experiment was performed. The drug compound was either mixed with the CVA16 virus particles and incubated for 1 h (long-term) prior to the dilution step, or mixed and immediately diluted (short-term) prior to the infection. As shown in Figure 3B, a pre-incubation of the CV16 particles with the test agents for 1 h led to a near complete protection of the RD cells against the viral infection compared to short-term incubation and the DMSO control. The results therefore suggest that both CHLA and PUG interact with the CVA16 particles and are able to render them inactive in the subsequent infection.
Since our data indicate that the drug compounds can directly inactivate CVA16 particles, and hence identifying the virion itself as a plausible target of their antiviral activity, we used molecular docking to predict the potential interaction(s) between these agents and the CVA16 capsid pentamer. Figure 4A shows a surface projection of the CVA16 pentamer which makes up the icosahedral capsid of the CVA16 virion. Molecular docking of the tannins CHLA (Figure 4B; green) and PUG (Figure 4C; blue) indicate that they both are predicted to bind in the canyon region of the CVA16 pentamer. Specifically, both small molecules bound just above the pocket entrance (Figure 4B and 4C, zoomed panels), which holds the pocket factor and plays an important role for mediating CVA16 binding and entry into the host cell. Both CHLA and PUG therefore appear to mask the pocket entrance region, which theoretically would obstruct interactions between the virus particles and the host cell receptors. Figure 4D and 4E indicate the unique residues predicted from the polar contacts of CHLA and PUG, respectively, around the pocket entrance, with most of these interactions occurring with VP1 for both compounds and the 3 amino acids Asn85, Lys257, and Asn417 being in common between the two tannins.
Figure 1: Time-of-drug-addition effect of CHLA and PUG against CVA16 infectivity. RD cells were treated with CHLA (20 µM) or PUG (25 µM) at different times of CVA16 inoculation (50 PFU/well). DMSO (0.25%) treatment was included as negative control and all assays were analyzed by plaque assay using crystal violet staining 72 h after incubation. (A) For pretreatment, cells were incubated with the test compounds for 1 h or 4 h and then were washed before CVA16 infection. (B) For co-addition assays, cells were administered with drugs and virus simultaneously for 1 h and then washed. (C) In post-infection, cells were infected with CVA16 for 1 h, washed, and then treated with test compounds. Data shown are the means ± standard deviation (SD) from three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 compared to the respective ‘virus only’ group. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance. This figure has been adapted from reference9. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: CHLA and PUG abolish CVA16 binding to the host cell. (A) Schematic of the flow cytometry- based binding assay. (B) RD cells (2 x 105 cells/well) were infected with CVA16 (MOI = 100) in the presence or absence of CHLA (20 µM), PUG (25 µM), soluble heparin (500 µg/mL, positive control), or DMSO (0.25%, negative control) for 3 h at 4 °C. Inocula from wells were collected into tubes, washed with PBS twice, fixed, and stained with anti-VP1 antibody followed by Alexa 488-conjugated secondary antibody for flow cytometry detection of surface-bound viruses. Quantified data from the detected fluorescence signals were plotted as the means ± SD from three independent experiments in bar graph as ‘Virus binding (%)’. *p < 0.05 compared to the ‘DMSO’ control treatment. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance. The representative flow cytometry histograms of CHLA (C), PUG (D), and heparin (E) treatments are shown. This figure has been adapted from reference9. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: CHLA and PUG inactivate cell-free CVA16 virus particles. (A) Schematic of the viral inactivation assay. (B) CVA16 (106 PFU/well) was treated with CHLA (20 µM) or PUG (25 µM) and mixed immediately for short-term inactivation or incubated for 1 h at 37 °C for long-term inactivation before being diluted 50-fold to a non-effective concentration of test compounds before inoculating on RD cells (final virus concentration = 50 PFU/well). DMSO (0.25%) was used as a negative control. Experiments were analyzed by plaque assay using crystal violet staining 72 h post-infection. Data shown are the means ± SD from three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 compared to the respective ‘virus only’ group. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance. This figure has been adapted from reference9. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: CHLA and PUG target the CVA16 capsid near the pocket entrance. Surface projection of the CVA16 virion particle with the monomeric structural pentamer delineated by red lines (A). Additional pentamers on the virion are shown in cyan, magenta, indigo, bronze, and green. Molecular docking analysis of CHLA (B, green) and PUG (C, blue) on the CVA16 pentamer (PDB: 5C4W); zoomed-in panels are demarcated in yellow. VP1 = orange, VP2 = gray, VP3 = white; polar contacts are shown as black dashes. Residues that make-up pocket entrance are colored red (Ile94, Asp95, Gln207, Met212, Met213, Lys257, Thr258). D, E. Close-up side view into the canyon where the pocket entrance is located and where CHLA (D) and PUG (E) bind to. Unique residues that are polar contacts from the compounds’ polar contacts on the pentamer are labeled in yellow (VP1), white (VP2), and in black (VP3) fonts. The white dashed line indicates the pocket entrance region. This figure has been adapted from reference9. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
In this report, we described the protocols that are useful for the identification of antiviral candidates that target viral entry, in particular against the non-enveloped CVA16. The assays are designed in ways to dissect the early events during viral entry, which is helpful to clarify the mechanism(s) of action and potential target(s) of the test agents' antiviral activity. The 'time-of-drug-addition assay' permits to broadly determine the potential target of the test compounds, for instance the uninfected host cells (pretreatment analysis), the virus particles or its interactions with the host cell surface (co-addition analysis), or the virus-infected host cell during the viral replicative phase (post-infection analysis). This assay alone can determine the method of interaction from the compounds (e.g., co-addition) that leads to the subsequent assays described in this protocol (e.g., viral inactivation assay and binding analysis). Wash steps are critical to ensure that the treatment method examined is specific to the one analyzed. The use of the 'flow cytometry-based binding assay' helps to assess the influence of the compounds specifically on virus binding to the host cell. Maintaining the temperature of the experiment at 4 °C is important to the final detection of the virions on the cell surface, as this temperature permits viral binding but not entry. The 'viral inactivation assay' can aid to determine potential physical interaction of the drug compounds with the cell-free virus particles. The critical step is the dilution for titrating out the drug compounds following incubation with the viral inoculum, as this is necessary to prevent any meaningful interaction of the drugs with the host cell surface in the subsequent infection step12.
Since viral entry is a multi-step event, a viral entry inhibitor class of antiviral agents could possibly exert several types of mechanisms, including: (1) modulating cell surface entry factors/receptors or its associated signaling pathways; (2) affecting cell membrane fluidity or integrity; (3) targeting electrostatic or van der Waals interactions between the virus particles and the host cell surface; (4) inducing physical changes to the virions such as particle breakage or aggregation; (5) binding to viral glycoproteins or capsid proteins and preventing their functions or conformational changes; (6) blocking fusion associated mechanisms; and (7) prevent release of viral genome inside the host cell. The analyses described in this report can therefore help point to the above-listed potential modes of action that can be further validated by additional experiments. Lastly, the 'molecular docking analysis' described here is instrumental to predict potential interaction regions between the drug compounds and the virus particles, and as such can help identify candidate viral capsid or glycoprotein binders and the targeted residues on the virus particles. However, these predictions are dependent on the docking software, and the resolution and accuracy of the viral protein crystal structures. It is important to note that the optional confined docking method in step 5.3.2 was added because oftentimes when using viral structural proteins as the 'receptor' molecule, the ligand can possibly bind to regions normally not accessible or exposed on the surface (e.g., under surface of the virion capsid facing the inside of the virion, transmembrane regions of envelope glycoproteins, etc.). Confining the search box allows only accessible regions of the viral protein to be targeted and rules out any unrealistic interactions. Molecular docking is dependent on crystallized structures, but recent advances in homology modeling have enabled analysis of non-crystallized structures by fitting its amino acid sequence onto a closely related crystallized structure15. This has allowed more structures to be analyzed and the information acquired can be useful for further studies including mutational analyses that can help validate the predicted interactions.
In conclusion, the assays and protocols described in this report are specifically catered to identify candidate antiviral agents that target viral entry, and provide information on which step of the viral entry process the test agent targets to, whether they interact with free virus particles, and predicting possible drug interaction sites on the virions. These types of assays can be repeated on other non-enveloped viruses or adapted to enveloped viruses as a method of screening antiviral drug compounds for possible inhibitors of viral entry. Using such mechanism-driven approach to identify antiviral candidates could help expedite the drug development process and expand the scope of antiviral therapeutics.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
The authors are grateful to Dr. Joshua Beckham at the University of Texas at Austin for technical support with molecular docking. This study was partly supported by funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST107-2320-B-037-002 to C.-J.L. and L.-T.L.; MOST106-2320-B-038-021 and MOST107-2320-B-038-034-MY3 to L.-T.L.).
4% Paraformaldehyde | Sigma | AL-158127-500G | |
Alexa 488-conjugated anti-mouse IgG | Invitrogen | A11029 | |
Amphotericin B | GIBCO | 15290-018 | |
Anti-VP1 antibody | Merck-Millipore | MAB979 | Anti-Enterovirus 71 Antibody, cross-reacts with Coxsackie A16, clone 422-8D-4C-4D |
Beckman Coulter Cytometer | Beckman Coulter | FC500 | |
Corina | Molecular Networks GmbH | ||
Crystal violet | Sigma | C3886-100G | |
DMEM | GIBCO | 11995-040 | |
DMSO | Sigma | D5879 | |
FBS | GIBCO | 26140-079 | |
Formaldehyde | Sigma | F8775 | |
Graphpad Prism | GraphPad | ||
Heparin sodium salt | Sigma | H3393 | |
In vitro toxicology assay kit, XTT-based | Sigma | TOX2 | |
Methylcellulose | Sigma | M0512-100G | |
PBS pH 7.4 | GIBCO | 10010023 | |
Penicillin-Streptomycin | GIBCO | 15070-063 | |
PyMol | Schrödinger | ||
UCSF Chimera | University of California, San Francisco |