Abstract
BackgroundMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging viral pathogen that causes severe morbidity and mortality. Up to date, there is no approved or licensed vaccine or antiviral medicines can be used to treat MERS-CoV-infected patients. Here, we analyzed the antiviral activities of resveratrol, a natural compound found in grape seeds and skin and in red wine, against MERS-CoV infection.MethodsWe performed MTT and neutral red uptake assays to assess the survival rates of MERS-infected Vero E6 cells. In addition, quantitative PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescent assays determined the intracellular viral RNA and protein expression. For viral productivity, we utilized plaque assays to confirm the antiviral properties of resveratrol against MERS-CoV.ResultsResveratrol significantly inhibited MERS-CoV infection and prolonged cellular survival after virus infection. We also found that the expression of nucleocapsid (N) protein essential for MERS-CoV replication was decreased after resveratrol treatment. Furthermore, resveratrol down-regulated the apoptosis induced by MERS-CoV in vitro. By consecutive administration of resveratrol, we were able to reduce the concentration of resveratrol while achieving inhibitory effectiveness against MERS-CoV.ConclusionIn this study, we first demonstrated that resveratrol is a potent anti-MERS agent in vitro. We perceive that resveratrol can be a potential antiviral agent against MERS-CoV infection in the near future.
Highlights
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging viral pathogen that causes severe morbidity and mortality
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (MERS-CoV) which was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 [1, 2]
After 48 hours, we imaged the cellular morphology via microscopy and measured cell proliferation by MTT assay, cell viability by neutral red uptake (NRU) assay, and cytotoxicity levels by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay
Summary
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging viral pathogen that causes severe morbidity and mortality. There is no approved or licensed vaccine or antiviral medicines can be used to treat MERS-CoV-infected patients. We analyzed the antiviral activities of resveratrol, a natural compound found in grape seeds and skin and in red wine, against MERS-CoV infection. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (MERS-CoV) which was identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 [1, 2]. One previous study showed that stilbene derivatives could contain antiviral activities against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) [4]. We tested whether a natural stilbene derivative, resveratrol (trans-3, 5, 4′-trihydroxystilbene) inhibits the MERS-CoV infection in this study.
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