title: Inhibitory activity and mechanism of two scorpion venom peptides against herpes simplex virus type 1.
abstract: Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a widespread human pathogen that causes severe diseases, but there are not effective and safe drugs in clinical therapy besides acyclovir (ACV) and related nucleoside analogs. In this study, two new venom peptides from the scorpion Heterometrus petersii were identified with effective inhibitory effect on HSV-1 infection in vitro. Both Hp1036 and Hp1239 peptides exhibited potent virucidal activities against HSV-1 (EC50=0.43±0.09 and 0.41±0.06μM, respectively) and effective inhibitory effects when added at the viral attachment (EC50=2.87±0.16 and 5.73±0.61μM, respectively), entry (EC50=4.29±0.35 and 4.32±0.47μM, respectively) and postentry (EC50=7.86±0.80 and 8.41±0.73μM, respectively) steps. Both Hp1036 and Hp1239 peptides adopted α-helix structure in approximate membrane environment and resulted in the destruction of the viral morphology. Moreover, Hp1036 and Hp1239 peptides entered Vero cells and reduced the intracellular viral infectivity. Taken together, Hp1036 and Hp1239 peptides are two anti-viral peptides with effective inhibitory effect on multiple steps of HSV-1 life cycle and therefore are good candidate for development as virucides.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Hong
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Tian
authors: T
authors: Li
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Song
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Runhong
authors: R
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Zhengyang
authors: Z
authors: Zeng
authors: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education and Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Shisong
authors: S
authors: Han
authors: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education and Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Xianzheng
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Yingliang
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China.
authors: Wenxin
authors: W
authors: Li
authors: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, PR China. Electronic address: zjcao@whu.edu.cn.
authors: Zhijian
authors: Z
authors: Cao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012605:Scorpions; D014709:Vero Cells; D053586:Virus Internalization / Q000187:drug effects; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012604:Scorpion Venoms
keywords: Antimicrobial peptides; HSV-1; Scorpion venom; Virucidal