Anti-Zika Activity of a Library of Synthetic Carbohydrate Receptors

Zika virus (ZIKV),
a mosquito-borne flavivirus, is a global health
concern because of its association with severe neurological disorders.
Currently, there are no antiviral therapies that have been specifically
approved to treat ZIKV, and there is an urgent need to develop effective
anti-ZIKV agents. Here, we report anti-ZIKV activity of 16 synthetic
carbohydrate receptors (SCRs) that inhibit ZIKV infection in Vero
and HeLa cells. Using a ZIKV reporter virus particle-based infection
assay, our data demonstrates these SCRs are highly potent with IC50s as low as 0.16 μM and negligible toxicity at several-fold
higher concentrations. Time-of-addition studies showed that these
SCRs inhibit the early stages of the virus infection, which is consistent
with the proposed mode of action, where the SCRs likely inhibit binding
between the virus and cell-surface glycans, thereby preventing viral
entry into the cells and, as such, this study demonstrates a potential
new strategy against ZIKV.