ArticleViruses2020
Suramin Inhibits Chikungunya Virus Replication by Interacting with Virions and Blocking the Early Steps of Infection.
Article in Viruses, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Phase I, Single-Dose Study to Assess the Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Suramin in Healthy Chinese Volunteers.Drug design, development and therapy · 2023Trial
- Recent advances in antiviral drugs for Chikungunya virus (CHIKV): Targets, mechanisms, and development strategies.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Review
- Chikungunya in 2025: Comprehensive Insights into Virology, Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Antiviral Therapies.Viruses · 2026Review
- E2 Protein of Chikungunya Virus: A Narrative Review of Its Potential as a Therapeutic Target.Current drug targets · 2026Review
- A Review of the Biology of Chikungunya Virus Highlighting the Development of Current Novel Therapeutic and Prevention Approaches.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Sulfur/selenium-functionalized benzotriazoles as multifunctional antivirals targeting Zika & Chikungunya.Future medicinal chemistry · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of 3-amino-2-thiocyanato-α, β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds against chikungunya virus.Future medicinal chemistry · 2025Article
- Generation of RNA aptamers against chikungunya virus E2 envelope protein.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Interference of small compounds and MgScientific reports · 2024Article
- The Synthetic Peptide GA-Hecate and Its Analogs Inhibit Multiple Steps of the Chikungunya Virus Infection Cycle In Vitro.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- An update on the development of antiviral against Mayaro virus: from molecules to potential viral targets.Archives of microbiology · 2023Review
- Generation of a Live-Attenuated Strain of Chikungunya Virus from an Indian Isolate for Vaccine Development.Vaccines · 2022Article
- An update on inhibitors targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase for COVID-19 treatment: Promises and challenges.Biochemical pharmacology · 2022Review
- Review
- Article
- The Conserved Macrodomain Is a Potential Therapeutic Target for Coronaviruses and Alphaviruses.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A molecular toolbox for ADP-ribosyl binding proteins.Cell reports methods · 2021Article
- Antivirals against the Chikungunya Virus.Viruses · 2021Review
- Repurposing Drugs for Mayaro Virus: Identification of EIDD-1931, Favipiravir and Suramin as Mayaro Virus Inhibitors.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Structural basis for inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase by suramin.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that can cause a debilitating disease that is primarily characterized by persistent joint pain. CHIKV has been emerging globally, while neither a vaccine nor antiviral medication is available. The anti-parasitic drug suramin was previously shown to inhibit CHIKV replication. In this study we aimed to obtain more detailed insight into its mechanism of action. We found that suramin interacts with virions and can inhibit virus binding to cells. It also appeared to inhibit post-attachment steps of the infection process, likely by preventing conformational changes of the envelope glycoproteins required for fusion and the progression of infection. Suramin-resistant CHIKV strains were selected and genotyping and reverse genetics experiments indicated that mutations in E2 were responsible for resistance. The substitutions N5R and H18Q were reverse engineered in the E2 glycoprotein in order to understand their role in resistance. The binding of suramin-resistant viruses with these two E2 mutations was inhibited by suramin like that of wild-type virus, but they appeared to be able to overcome the post-attachment inhibitory effect of suramin. Conversely, a virus with a G82R mutation in E2 (implicated in attenuation of vaccine strain 181/25), which renders it dependent on the interaction with heparan sulfate for entry, was more sensitive to suramin than wild-type virus. Using molecular modelling studies, we predicted the potential suramin binding sites on the mature spikes of the chikungunya virion. We conclude that suramin interferes with CHIKV entry by interacting with the E2 envelope protein, which inhibits attachment and also interferes with conformational changes required for fusion.
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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.