ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016
Spironolactone blocks Epstein-Barr virus production by inhibiting EBV SM protein function.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repurposing Licensed Drugs with Activity Against Epstein-Barr Virus for Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Approach.CNS drugs · 2025Pooled it
- Use of the Split Luciferase Complementation Assay to Identify Novel Small Molecules That Disrupt Essential Protein-Protein Interactions of Viruses.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Curcumin derivative C210 induces Epstein-Barr virus lytic cycle and inhibits virion production by disrupting Hsp90 function.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Exaggerated Mosquito Bite Reactions: A New Perspective on Treatment Options.The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology · 2024Article
- Evodiamine suppresses endometriosis development induced by early EBV exposure through inhibition of ERβ.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- The viral packaging motor potentiates Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus gene expression late in infection.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infection, EBV, HHV-6 and Other Factors May Contribute to Inflammation and Autoimmunity in Long COVID.Viruses · 2023Review
- The PNUTS-PP1 complex acts as an intrinsic barrier to herpesvirus KSHV gene expression and replication.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Review
- Epstein-Barr virus BNRF1 destabilizes SMC5/6 cohesin complexes to evade its restriction of replication compartments.Cell reports · 2022Article
- Topical Treatment of Human Skin and Cultured Keratinocytes with High-Dose Spironolactone Reduces XPB Expression and Induces Toxicity.JID innovations : skin science from molecules to population health · 2021Article
- Investigation of Long COVID Prevalence and Its Relationship to Epstein-Barr Virus Reactivation.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Epstein-Barr Virus Lytic Replication Induces ACE2 Expression and Enhances SARS-CoV-2 Pseudotyped Virus Entry in Epithelial Cells.Journal of virology · 2021Article
- The Epstein-Barr Virus Lytic Protein BMLF1 Induces Upregulation of GRP78 Expression through ATF6 Activation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- The XPB Subunit of the TFIIH Complex Plays a Critical Role in HIV-1 Transcription and XPB Inhibition by Spironolactone Prevents HIV-1 Reactivation from Latency.Journal of virology · 2021Article
- Aberrant Splicing Events and Epigenetics in Viral Oncogenomics: Current Therapeutic Strategies.Cells · 2021Review
- Targeting the signaling in Epstein-Barr virus-associated diseases: mechanism, regulation, and clinical study.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2021Review
- Lymphoproliferative Disease in a Non-Transplant Patient and Spironolactone's Activity Against Epstein Barr Virus.HCA healthcare journal of medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Clinically available drugs active against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and other human herpesviruses are limited to those targeting viral DNA replication. To identify compounds directed against other steps in the viral life cycle, we searched for drugs active against the EBV SM protein, which is essential for infectious virus production. SM has a highly gene-specific mode of action and preferentially enhances expression of several late lytic cycle EBV genes. Here we demonstrate that spironolactone, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist approved for clinical use, inhibits SM function and infectious EBV production. Expression of EBV viral capsid antigen is highly SM dependent, and spironolactone inhibits viral capsid antigen synthesis and capsid formation, blocking EBV virion production at a step subsequent to viral DNA replication. In addition, spironolactone inhibits expression of other SM-dependent genes necessary for infectious virion formation. We further demonstrate that molecules structurally related to spironolactone with similar antimineralocorticoid blocking activity do not inhibit EBV production. These findings pave the way for development of antiherpesvirus drugs with new mechanisms of action directed against SM and homologous essential proteins in other herpesviruses.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.