Structure and inhibition of EV-D68, a virus that causes respiratory illness in children.

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is a member of Picornaviridae and is a causative agent of recent outbreaks of respiratory illness in children in the United States. We report here the crystal structures of EV-D68 and its complex with pleconaril, a capsid-binding compound that had been developed as an anti-rhinovirus drug. The hydrophobic drug-binding pocket in viral protein 1 contained density that is consistent with a fatty acid of about 10 carbon atoms. This density could be displaced by pleconaril. We also showed that pleconaril inhibits EV-D68 at a half-maximal effective concentration of 430 nanomolar and might, therefore, be a possible drug candidate to alleviate EV-D68 outbreaks.