{"title":"The C-terminal T234 residue of VP3 is required for KREMEN1 receptor-dependent infectivity and pathogenesis of coxsackieviruses A10 and A8.","authors":"Xingyu Yan, Zeyu Liu, Kexin Liu, Zhenlin Yang, Jianxing Wang, Chao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Coxsackievirus A10 (CVA10) is a major causative agent of hand, foot and mouth disease and utilizes KREMEN1 (KRM1) as its cellular receptor. While our previous work identifies VP2 residue K140 as a universal anchor for KRM1 binding among KRM1-utilizing enteroviruses, the functional significance of other receptor-interface residues remains poorly characterized. Here, through structure-guided mutagenesis, we demonstrate that VP3-T234, a completely conserved residue at the C-terminus of VP3, is essential for CVA10 infectivity. The T234A mutation does not affect virion assembly but abolishes both KRM1 binding and cellular attachment. Interestingly, this requirement shows remarkable virus specificity: the homologous residue is critical for CVA8, but is not required for other KRM1-utilizing enteroviruses including CVA2-CVA6 and CVA12. The T234A mutation significantly attenuates the pathogenesis of both CVA10 and CVA8 in neonatal mice. Moreover, the CVA8-T234A mutant provides complete protection as an attenuated vaccine against lethal CVA8 challenge. Our findings establish a model wherein KRM1 engagement relies on the conserved VP2-K140 anchor complemented by virus-specific secondary residues, with VP3-T234 representing a key determinant for CVA10 and CVA8. These insights advance our understanding of enterovirus-receptor interactions and provide new directions for vaccine development.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"882-897"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148413125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Virologica SinicaPub Date : 2026-08-01Epub Date: 2026-08-10DOI: 10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.005
Yang Gao, Guojie Wang, Hanhua Zhang, Sicheng Tian, Yanqun Wang, Jincun Zhao, Xing Liu, Rong Ye, Rong Zhang
{"title":"Identification and characterization of anti-chikungunya virus compounds using a biosafe toolkit.","authors":"Yang Gao, Guojie Wang, Hanhua Zhang, Sicheng Tian, Yanqun Wang, Jincun Zhao, Xing Liu, Rong Ye, Rong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne alphavirus for which no specific antiviral therapy is currently available. During the large outbreak in Foshan, Guangdong Province, China, in July 2025, CHIKV rapidly spread to neighboring regions and caused more than 16,000 confirmed cases. In this study, the predominant outbreak strain of CHIKV was selected as the reference sequence to establish a panel of complementary biosafe tools for antiviral compound screening and mechanistic investigation. A virus replicon particle (VRP) system for CHIKV was first constructed and applied to compound library screening, resulting in the identification of three candidate antiviral compounds: MDL-12330A, bazedoxifene acetate, and anidulafungin. To further validate their antiviral activities and investigate their potential mechanisms, CHIKV functional evaluation systems were subsequently established, including vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)- and murine leukemia virus (MLV)-based pseudovirus systems for viral entry, a replicon RNA system for post-entry replication-associated processes, a replication-defective nsP4 mutant replicon RNA system for primary translation, and a virus-like particle (VLP) system for viral particle assembly and budding assessment. Using these complementary systems, we systematically evaluated the antiviral profiles of the three candidate compounds across multiple stages of the CHIKV life cycle. This analysis revealed distinct stage-specific inhibitory patterns and provided insights into their potential antiviral mechanisms, which warrant validation using authentic CHIKV infection to assess their translational potential.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"779-790"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genetic heterogeneity and pathogenic potential of historical Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus isolates in China.","authors":"Abulimiti Moming, Yuan Bai, Qiong Zhu, Jiayin Jin, Yaohui Fang, Shouwei Huang, Qiaoli Wu, Zhengyuan Su, Guoyu Zhao, Shuang Tang, Manli Wang, Zhihong Hu, Yujiang Zhang, Fei Deng, Shu Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) poses a significant public health threat. In China, CCHFV has been circulating for decades, yet the genomic diversity and pathogenic potential of the circulating strains remain poorly characterized, hindering risk assessment and countermeasure development. In this study, we recovered 24 historical CCHFV strains isolated between 1966 and 2004 from humans, ticks and jerboas in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Whole-genome sequencing was performed, followed by comprehensive analyses of their phylogenetic relationships, in vitro infectivity and in vivo pathogenicity. Phylogenetic analyses revealed high genetic heterogeneity, identifying seven genotypes for the L segment, nine for the M segment (including a novel Asia 4 genotype), and nine for the S segment. Amino acid mutation analysis revealed that the mucin-like domain (MLD) of the glycoprotein (GP) exhibited the highest mutation rate, contributing substantially to sequence diversity. In vitro, Asia 2 (75024) and Asia 3 (79121M18) strains exhibited robust replication in monkey-, hamster-, and human-derived cell lines. In C57BL/6 mice, all four representative strains induced viral replication and specific antibody responses (IgM and IgG), causing mild to moderate pathological damage in the liver, spleen, and kidneys. In IFNAR<sup>-/-</sup> mice, virulence varied markedly among representative strains: Asia 2 and Asia 3 strains were highly lethal (LD<sub>50</sub> < 1 TCID<sub>50</sub>), Asia 1 was moderately virulent (LD<sub>50</sub> = 142.5 TCID<sub>50</sub>), and Asia 4 exhibited atypical, non-dose-dependent mortality. Collectively, our work reports a novel Asia 4 genotype and suggests strain- and lineage-associated differences in virulence for CCHFV in China, providing critical insights for surveillance and targeted countermeasure development.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"832-841"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148649072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent progress in anti-Chikungunya virus drug discovery: Focus on the viral life cycle and direct-acting antivirals.","authors":"Chunjiao Liu, Shixiang Pan, Mingxue Gao, Yumin Zhang, Leike Zhang, Bin Lin, Xiangrui Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) belongs to the genus Alphavirus of the family Togaviridae. CHIKV infection generally causes severe clinical symptoms, including debilitating arthralgia, fever, hemorrhage and cutaneous rashes. In recent years, the transmission range of CHIKV has continued to expand, resulting in recurrent local outbreaks in densely populated and economically developed regions and posing a severe threat to public health. Accordingly, safe and effective anti-CHIKV therapeutics are urgently needed for the clinical treatment of infected patients. Nevertheless, no specific anti-CHIKV drugs have been approved for clinical use or advanced into clinical trials, and relevant research and development remain confined to the preclinical stage. This review systematically illustrates the key steps of the CHIKV life cycle, core viral components and vital functional domains, and summarizes the current research progress of anti-CHIKV agents. It comprehensively outlines the discovery strategies, structural optimization directions and activity evaluation approaches of anti-CHIKV small-molecule compounds, and further investigates their action targets. Notably, nsP2 and nsP4 represent promising targets for broad-spectrum anti-CHIKV even anti-alphavirus drug development due to their structural conservation across alphavirus species and druggable features. This work provides a solid theoretical basis and valuable reference for the future research and development of novel anti-CHIKV drugs.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"735-752"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148397961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Virologica SinicaPub Date : 2026-08-01Epub Date: 2026-07-09DOI: 10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.003
Jun Huang, Jinpeng Lv, Xiaojie Zheng, Junjun Jiang, Wei Liu, Shuchen Liu, Hao Liang, Hao Li
{"title":"Effectiveness of lignans against severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus infection.","authors":"Jun Huang, Jinpeng Lv, Xiaojie Zheng, Junjun Jiang, Wei Liu, Shuchen Liu, Hao Liang, Hao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.07.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is an emerging tick-borne bunyavirus that causes a life-threatening infectious disease with high mortality. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or specific therapeutic drugs for clinical use against SFTSV infection. Here, we screened a lignan compound library to identify candidates with anti-SFTSV activity. Two type I arylnaphthalide lignan lactones, Pronaphthalide A and Procumbenoside I, were identified as potent inhibitors of SFTSV infection. Mechanistic investigations indicated that these lignans exert their inhibitory effects at the viral binding and internalization stages. Molecular docking analysis revealed that these lignans can bind to the conserved B domain of the SFTSV glycoprotein Gn, an interaction validated by subsequent experiments as the core mechanism underlying their antiviral activity. In a mouse model of lethal SFTSV infection, treatment with these compounds, particularly Procumbenoside I, significantly inhibited viral infection, attenuated histopathological abnormalities, and improved survival rates. The antiviral activity of these lignans was further expanded to other bunyaviruses, including Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) and Wetland virus (WELV). These findings uncover the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of type I arylnaphthalide lignans and support their potential as candidate therapeutic agents for the clinical intervention of bunyavirus infections.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"912-922"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148424751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Y-box-binding protein 1 stabilizes the capsid protein of porcine circovirus type 2 to promote viral replication.","authors":"Jianwei Zhou, Qianqian Zhang, Xue Dong, Wei Gao, Xiaoyuan Lan, Beiyi Zhou, Yonghui Qiu, Weiyin Xu, Peng Hui, Penghui Zeng, Dedong Wang, Lei Hou, Jue Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), a major causative agent of PCV2-associated diseases, poses a serious threat to the global swine industry. The stability of PCV2 capsid (Cap) protein is critical for viral replication; however, the underlying mechanisms regulating Cap stability during PCV2 infection remain poorly understood. In this study, co-immunoprecipitation assays were used to demonstrate that PCV2 Cap protein can maintain its own stability by binding to the cellular Y-box-binding protein 1 (YBX1) during viral infection. Furthermore, binding domain mapping experiments revealed two specific regions essential for this interaction: the N-terminal arginine-rich motif (ARM) of PCV2 Cap (amino acid sequence: <sup>1</sup>MTYPRRRYRRRRHRPRSHLG<sup>20</sup>) and the amino acid residues <sup>189</sup>RRRR<sup>192</sup> within the C-terminal domain (CTD) of YBX1. Virus rescue experiments further confirmed that substituting all arginine residues with alanine in the N-terminal ARM of Cap completely abolished its binding to YBX1. Analysis of viral replication capacity showed that YBX1 promotes PCV2 replication by stabilizing the viral Cap protein. Additionally, knockdown of YBX1 significantly reduced the protein levels of PCV2 Cap, and this effect was reversed either by treatment with the proteasome inhibitor MG132 or by restoring YBX1 expression. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that YBX1 promotes PCV2 replication by directly interacting with the ARM of PCV2 Cap, thereby inhibiting the proteasomal degradation of Cap during viral infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"868-881"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148722948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stabilization of prefusion hMPV F improves manufacturability and protective immunity across hMPV lineages.","authors":"Changbin Qu, Jingjing Zou, Dongyu Niu, Qingxin Wu, Lijie Liu, Mengting Yu, Qiqi Zhang, Long Zhang, Shuai Wei, Wei Zhang, Wei Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a major cause of pediatric acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs), yet vaccine development has been hindered by the intrinsic metastability of the prefusion F glycoprotein (pre-F). Here, we used a structure-based design strategy to stabilize hMPV pre-F while preserving neutralization-sensitive epitopes. By applying combined stabilizing elements, including disulfide bonds, a designed salt bridge, and a trimer-interface sequence swap, we generated VM-874, a pre-F-stabilized trimer that was expressed at high levels in 293F cells and exhibited improved thermal stability and stress-resistant antigenicity. VM-874 also retained binding to multiple conformation-sensitive monoclonal antibodies following thermal and storage stress. VM-874 elicited high serum neutralizing titers against both hMPV A2 and B1 strains and conferred protection in BALB/c mice and cotton rats, as evidenced by reduced pulmonary viral burden and attenuated lung pathology after challenge. Although VM-874 elicited antibodies that cross-bound respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) F protein, no RSV-neutralizing activity was detected, underscoring the need to distinguish cross-reactivity from heterologous protection in combined RSV/hMPV vaccine strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"947-960"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148685938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Virologica SinicaPub Date : 2026-08-01Epub Date: 2026-08-10DOI: 10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.007
Wei Wang, Yan Sun, Qing Liu, Yidan Xia, Jing Wang, Minhao Hu, Mengyao Kong, Jun He, Rongbao Gao, Yong Gao
{"title":"Pre-existing hemagglutinin-specific antibody levels are associated with B-cell repertoire maturation and antibody breadth after influenza vaccination.","authors":"Wei Wang, Yan Sun, Qing Liu, Yidan Xia, Jing Wang, Minhao Hu, Mengyao Kong, Jun He, Rongbao Gao, Yong Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.virs.2026.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Repeated influenza exposures generate complex antibody landscapes, yet how pre-existing antibodies are associated with subsequent vaccine responses remains unclear. We longitudinally tracked 21 adults stratified by pre-vaccination neutralizing titers to examine B-cell dynamics using flow cytometry, B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing, and monoclonal antibody characterization. After vaccination, participants with high baseline titers showed a longitudinal increase in the frequency of HA<sup>+</sup>CD27<sup>-</sup>IgD<sup>+</sup> naive-phenotype B cells. BCRs recovered from hemagglutinin (HA)-binding (HA<sup>+</sup>) B cells in the high-titer group displayed lower somatic hypermutation and shorter CDR3s, whereas those recovered from the lower-titer groups showed higher mutation levels and more extensive class switching. Correspondingly, monoclonal antibodies from the high-titer group generally showed narrow reactivity, while those from lower-titer groups showed broader neutralizing activity against historical strains. Clonal tracing further suggested that mAbs from lower-titer groups were more often linked to pre-existing sequences. Together, these findings suggest that pre-existing antibody levels are associated with differences in B-cell repertoire maturation and antibody breadth after influenza vaccination.</p>","PeriodicalId":23654,"journal":{"name":"Virologica Sinica","volume":" ","pages":"898-911"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148707792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}