[S12-1] Basic research on the development of a new treatment for infections with enveloped viruses
The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (IMSUT), has an overseas research center in China. China is a large country where there have been outbreaks of infections with emerging viruses. In 2019, COVID-19 caused by infection with a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) suddenly appeared in Wuhan city. This indicates that China is a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases. As of 2020, there were approximately 960,000 HIV-1 patients in China. Moreover, there is a growing concern over the occurrence of dengue fever. We established a virus-to-cell fusion assay using a GFP/luciferase dual split protein to find compounds that inhibit virus-to-cell fusion of enveloped viruses. In this system, the viral fusion activity is easily assessed by GFP and luciferase signals from cell-to-cell fusion between cells expressing the split protein and cells expressing the viral envelope protein of a target virus. Using the fusion assay, we found that a Japanese pancreatitis drug, nafamostat strongly prevents viral entry of SARS-CoV-2. On the other hand, we are currently trying to develop novel anti-HIV-1 drugs that target HIV-1 latently infected cells. We found three drugs as an activator of latent HIV-1 provirus. In this session, we would also like to introduce our ongoing projects for the development of a new treatment for infectious diseases caused by enveloped viruses.