Inhibitors of Acly CoA: Cholesterol Acyltransferase for Antiviral Drugs Against Norovirus Infection

Reference Number: K 08-42

Inventors: Chang, Kyeong-Ok

Owner: Kansas State University Research Foundation

USPTO Link:

Invention Summary

Norwalk virus is associated with approximately 23 million cases of acute gastroenteritis in the United States per year and according to the CDC, up to 200,000 deaths annually among children in developing countries. In addition, noroviruses have also been designated as category B biological agents because of their highly infectious nature and could potentially be deliberately disseminated into food and water supplies.

Development of vaccines against these viruses has long been prohibited due to the lack of an appropriate cell culture system. Inventors at K-State have developed a novel cell based system of replicon-harboring cells to study the replication and antivirals of noroviruses. Using this system, they have found that acyl CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) plays an important role in virus replication and effectively reduces the replication of Norwalk virus.

While many ACAT inhibitors have been developed and are commercially available for lowering blood cholesterol and the risk of atherosclerosis, some did not reach the market for various reasons. Using K-State’s novel system, several ACAT inhibitors have been tested and proven to reduce the replications of Norwalk virus in replicon-harboring cells which provides a very appealing opportunity for repurposing these drugs to combat neglected diseases such as norovirus.

Advantages

Currently there is no therapeutic drug available against norovirus infection and by using the replicon harboring cells we were able to screen potential antiviral drugs against norovirus infections.

Applications

Any ACAT inhibitor can be used as an anti-noroviral drug.