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Registration Number

0225U004235, (0123U102634) , R & D reports

Title

Drosophila melanogaster as a platform for screening of novel antiviral compounds and studies of cellular mechanisms of defense against viruses

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Скринінг і вивчення екстрактів з протекторними властивостями

Head

Ostash Bohdan O., Доктор біологічних наук

Registration Date

26-11-2025

Organization

Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

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Development of antiviral screening platform on the basis of special lines of insect Drosophila melanogaster expressing RNA virus Flock House Virus (FHV); investigation of this platform using model antivirals and natural extracts.

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An absence of simple platform for screening of antiviral compounds is perhaps the most formidable challenge in the field; it is implied that such a system would directly inform about the ability of a compound under study to protect against lethal action of a virus. Here we developed such a screening platform on the basis of the insect, Drosophila melanogaster, expressing viral replicase FHV in all tissues. We demonstrate a high toxicity of the replicase under conditions of inactivated immune control over FHV. We also show the efficiency (in terms of lethality) of neuronal expression of the replicase. Both facts attest to the feasibility of the D. melanogaster line as a screening platform. A library of natural compounds (their extracts) has been developed for the screening purposes. We assessed the content of various natural products in the extracts, their total bioactivity and heavy metal content (for plant extracts). We worked out the conditions of feeding the compounds to the insects. A number of pure compounds and extratcs have been uncovered that exerted a potent biological activity towards Drosophila larvae. Particularly, a tremendously high toxicity towards insects has been revealed for nucleoside analogs, one of the most popular chemical class to develop antiviral drugs. In the same time, a few extracts have been identified showing moderate protective effect on the insects expressing viral replicase. The overproducers of antiviral polyketide limocrocin have bene constructed and used to purify this natural product for further in vivo studies.

Product Description

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Nataliya D. Romanyuk
Natalia P. Matiytsiv
Makar Orysia O.
Horin Mari Ye.

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2025-11-26