Ivermectin effectively inhibits hepatitis E virus replication, requiring the host nuclear transport protein importin α1

Yunlong Li, Zhijiang Miao, Pengfei Li, Ruyi Zhang, Denis E. Kainov, Zhongren Ma, Robert A. de Man, Maikel P. Peppelenbosch, Qiuwei Pan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We show that ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic drug, effectively inhibits infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotypes 1 and 3 in a range of cell culture models, including hepatic and extrahepatic cells. Long-term treatment showed no clear evidence of the development of drug resistance. Gene silencing of importin-α1, a cellular target of ivermectin and a key member of the host nuclear transport complex, inhibited viral replication and largely abolished the anti-HEV effect of ivermectin.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2005-2010
Number of pages6
JournalArchives of Virology
Volume166
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Dr. Suzanne U. Emerson (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, USA) for generously providing the HEV plasmids. We also thank the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for funding a VIDI grant (91719300) to Q.P., the European Regional Development Fund for the Mobilitas Pluss Project (MOBTT39) to D. K., and the China Scholarship Council for funding Ph.D. fellowships to Y. L. (no. 201708530243), Z. M. (no. 201708530234), P. L. (no. 201808370170) and R. Z. (no. 201808530490).

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Dr. Suzanne U. Emerson (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, USA) for generously providing the HEV plasmids. We also thank the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for funding a VIDI grant (91719300) to Q.P., the European Regional Development Fund for the Mobilitas Pluss Project (MOBTT39) to D. K., and the China Scholarship Council for funding Ph.D. fellowships to Y. L. (no. 201708530243), Z. M. (no. 201708530234), P. L. (no. 201808370170) and R. Z. (no. 201808530490).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

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