Specific inhibition of bovine viral diarrhea virus replicase.

Compound-1453 was identified and characterized as a specific inhibitor of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). The concentration of compound-1453 which results in 50% protection from virus-induced cytopathic effect is approximately 2.2 microM, with a therapeutic index of 60, and it is not active against a panel of RNA and DNA viruses. A time-of-addition experiment suggested that compound-1453 targets a stage of the viral life cycle after viral entry. To determine the target of compound-1453, resistant virus was generated. Resistant variants grew efficiently in the presence or absence of 33 micro M compound-1453 and exhibited replication efficiency in the presence of compound-1453 approximately 1,000-fold higher than that of the wild-type (wt) virus. Functional mapping and sequence analysis of resistant cDNAs revealed a single amino acid substitution (Glu to Gly) at residue 291 in the NS5B polymerase in all eight independently generated cDNA clones. Recombinant virus containing this single mutation retained the resistance phenotype and a replication efficiency similar to that of the original isolated resistant virus. Since compound-1453 did not inhibit BVDV polymerase activity in vitro (50% inhibitory concentration > 300 microM), we developed a membrane-based assay that consisted of a BVDV RNA replicase complex isolated from virus-infected cells. Compound-1453 inhibited the activity of the wt, but not the drug-resistant, replicase in the membrane assay at concentrations similar to those observed in the viral infection assay. This work presents a novel inhibitor of a viral RNA-dependent RNA replicase.