ArticlePLoS pathogens2024
Withaferin A inhibits Chikungunya virus nsP2 protease and shows antiviral activity in the cell culture and mouse model of virus infection.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Analysis of Ligand Binding Kinetics in Chikungunya Virus Drug Discovery.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2027Article
- Rapid and precise amplicon-based genome sequencing to preparedness and response chikungunya virus outbreaks.Emerging microbes & infections · 2026Article
- Ewing sarcoma breakpoint region 1 (EWSR1) protein binds to nonstructural protein 2 and non-coding regions of chikungunya virus genome to inhibit virus replication.Journal of virology · 2026Article
- Recent progress in anti-Chikungunya virus drug discovery: Focus on the viral life cycle and direct-acting antivirals.Virologica Sinica · 2026Review
- Tupaia belangeri better reflects the typical symptoms of Chikungunya virus infection than mice: A comparative study.Virologica Sinica · 2026Article
- Emetine dihydrochloride inhibits Chikungunya virus nsP2 helicase and shows robust antiviral activity in cells and mice.Journal of biomedical science · 2026Article
- Pathogenesis of Chronic Arthritis Due to Chikungunya Virus and Advances in Vaccine Development.Viruses · 2026Review
- Discovery of BPR2-D2 compound in inhibiting Chikungunya viral RNA synthesis by replicon systems.Biomedical journal · 2026Article
- Cell Surface Vimentin Is an Attachment Factor That Facilitates Equine Arteritis Virus Infection In Vitro.Viruses · 2026Article
- Chikungunya in 2025: Comprehensive Insights into Virology, Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Antiviral Therapies.Viruses · 2026Review
- Inhibition of Chikungunya virus nsP2 protease in vitro by scorpion venom peptide pantinin-1.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- How Can Plant-Derived Natural Products and Plant Biotechnology Help Against Emerging Viruses?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus causing fever, myalgia, and debilitating joint swelling and pain, which in many patients becomes chronic. The frequent epidemics of CHIKV across the world pose a significant public health burden necessitating the development of effective antiviral therapeutics. A cellular imaging-based high-content screening of natural compounds identified withaferin A (WFA), a steroidal lactone isolated from the plant Withania somnifera, as a potent antiviral against CHIKV. In the ERMS cells, WFA inhibited CHIKV replication early during the life cycle by binding the CHIKV non-structural protein nsP2 and inhibiting its protease activity. This inhibited the viral polyprotein processing and the minus-sense viral RNA synthesis. WFA mounted the nsP2 protease inhibitory activity through its oxidising property as the reducing agents N-acetylcysteine and Glutathione-monoethyl ester effectively reversed the WFA-mediated protease inhibition in vitro and abolished the WFA-mediated antiviral activity in cultured cells. WFA inhibited CHIKV replication in the C57BL/6 mouse model of chikungunya disease, resulting in significantly lower viremia. Importantly, CHIKV-infected mice showed significant joint swelling which was not seen in WFA-treated mice. These data demonstrate the potential of WFA as a novel CHIKV antiviral.
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