Evaluation of antiviral potential of AG-FALALKALKKALKKL-COOH bioconjugate against Chikungunya virus and toxicity using knockout mice

• Grant number: 24/02577-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Maffud Cilli
• Grantee: Marília Mazzi Moraes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Chikungunya virus is an Alphavirus with a positive sense single-stranded RNA (RNA (+)) genome. The virus is transmitted to humans via A. aegypti and A. albopictus mosquitoes. CHIKV is considered an important virus in Brazil from a public health perspective. The virus infection is characterized by headache, fever, myalgia, nausea, vomiting, and arthralgia, which may evolve into a chronic disease. The simultaneous circulation of arboviruses in the country, such as Dengue (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), and the similarity of the disease symptoms make the patients clinical diagnosis difficult. In vitro and in vivo tests using well-characterized cell lines and animal models are being extensively used to study the CHIKV pathogenesis and antiviral candidate compounds against the virus. The antiviral potential and the toxicity of the bioconjugate AG-FALALKALKKALKKL-COOH were tested in vitro by our research group. The results showed that the compound had antiviral activity against CHIKV and was non-toxic. Since nowadays there is no treatment for Chikungunya fever, the present study aims to evaluate the antiviral potential of AG-FALALKALKKALKKL-COOH bioconjugate and toxicity in vivo, using the AG129 mice, a defective immunocompromised animal for IFN-alpha, beta, and gamma receptors.