Viruses (Feb 2023)

4-Phenyl-butyric Acid Inhibits Japanese Encephalitis Virus Replication via Inhibiting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response

  • Shuangshuang Wang,
  • Keli Yang,
  • Chang Li,
  • Wei Liu,
  • Ting Gao,
  • Fangyan Yuan,
  • Rui Guo,
  • Zewen Liu,
  • Yiqing Tan,
  • Xianwang Hu,
  • Yongxiang Tian,
  • Danna Zhou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/v15020534
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 2
p. 534

Abstract

Read online

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection causes host endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) reaction, and then induces cell apoptosis through the UPR pathway, invading the central nervous system and causing an inflammation storm. The endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitor, 4-phenyl-butyric acid (4-PBA), has an inhibitory effect on the replication of flavivirus. Here, we studied the effect of 4-PBA on JEV infection both in vitro and vivo. The results showed that 4-PBA treatment could significantly decrease the titer of JEV, inhibit the expression of the JEV NS3 protein (in vitro, p p p < 0.001), but had no effect on the expression of NS3 and NS4b. This result may indicate that 4-PBA has antiviral activity independent of the UPR pathway. In summary, the effect of 4-PBA on JEV infection is related to the inhibition of ER stress, and it may be a promising drug for the treatment of Japanese encephalitis.

Keywords