Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays

Abstract The emergence of Enterovirus G strains harboring recombinant papain-like protease (EV-G-PLP) poses a significant threat to the global swine health with zoonotic potential. Addressing the critical lack of targeted treatments, we developed a reverse genetics system for the CH/20GXNN/PLP2020 s...

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Main Authors: Kaige Chen, Dalin Hong, Lingyou Zeng, Jinni Bian, Shiting Huang, Yifeng Qin, Yeshi Yin, Weijian Huang, Ying Chen, Zuzhang Wei, Kang Ouyang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-08-01
Series:BMC Veterinary Research
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04960-0
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author Kaige Chen
Dalin Hong
Lingyou Zeng
Jinni Bian
Shiting Huang
Yifeng Qin
Yeshi Yin
Weijian Huang
Ying Chen
Zuzhang Wei
Kang Ouyang
author_facet Kaige Chen
Dalin Hong
Lingyou Zeng
Jinni Bian
Shiting Huang
Yifeng Qin
Yeshi Yin
Weijian Huang
Ying Chen
Zuzhang Wei
Kang Ouyang
author_sort Kaige Chen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The emergence of Enterovirus G strains harboring recombinant papain-like protease (EV-G-PLP) poses a significant threat to the global swine health with zoonotic potential. Addressing the critical lack of targeted treatments, we developed a reverse genetics system for the CH/20GXNN/PLP2020 strain and generated three isogenic reporter recombinants (GFP/RFP/iLOV) through precise PLP gene substitution. Viral progeny exhibited parental-like replication kinetics, with r20GXNN-iLOV demonstrating genetic stability (> 10 passages) compared to GFP/RFP variants. Plaque phenotyping revealed an inverse correlation between plaque size and insert length at the 2C/3A junction. Leveraging this system, we engineered a high-throughput screening platform identifying four anti-EV-G compounds: niclosamide (0.02 µM), salinomycin (2 µM), chloroquine phosphate (12 µM), and ribavirin (400 µM). This study establishes a reverse genetics platform enabling picornavirus research advancement and reveals structural plasticity in the 2C/3A junction that facilitates antiviral screening. Furthermore, it identifies EV-G-specific drug candidates while providing a framework for pan-picornaviral (including EV-A71) compound discovery.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1746-6148
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher BMC
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spelling doaj-art-74ca79397e204d3b91fe76150f92e9472025-08-20T03:46:03ZengBMCBMC Veterinary Research1746-61482025-08-0121111110.1186/s12917-025-04960-0Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assaysKaige Chen0Dalin Hong1Lingyou Zeng2Jinni Bian3Shiting Huang4Yifeng Qin5Yeshi Yin6Weijian Huang7Ying Chen8Zuzhang Wei9Kang Ouyang10College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi UniversityAbstract The emergence of Enterovirus G strains harboring recombinant papain-like protease (EV-G-PLP) poses a significant threat to the global swine health with zoonotic potential. Addressing the critical lack of targeted treatments, we developed a reverse genetics system for the CH/20GXNN/PLP2020 strain and generated three isogenic reporter recombinants (GFP/RFP/iLOV) through precise PLP gene substitution. Viral progeny exhibited parental-like replication kinetics, with r20GXNN-iLOV demonstrating genetic stability (> 10 passages) compared to GFP/RFP variants. Plaque phenotyping revealed an inverse correlation between plaque size and insert length at the 2C/3A junction. Leveraging this system, we engineered a high-throughput screening platform identifying four anti-EV-G compounds: niclosamide (0.02 µM), salinomycin (2 µM), chloroquine phosphate (12 µM), and ribavirin (400 µM). This study establishes a reverse genetics platform enabling picornavirus research advancement and reveals structural plasticity in the 2C/3A junction that facilitates antiviral screening. Furthermore, it identifies EV-G-specific drug candidates while providing a framework for pan-picornaviral (including EV-A71) compound discovery.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04960-0Enterovirus GInfectious cloneReporter geneAntiviral drug screening
spellingShingle Kaige Chen
Dalin Hong
Lingyou Zeng
Jinni Bian
Shiting Huang
Yifeng Qin
Yeshi Yin
Weijian Huang
Ying Chen
Zuzhang Wei
Kang Ouyang
Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
BMC Veterinary Research
Enterovirus G
Infectious clone
Reporter gene
Antiviral drug screening
title Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
title_full Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
title_fullStr Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
title_full_unstemmed Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
title_short Construction of enterovirus G expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
title_sort construction of enterovirus g expressing reporter genes for antiviral drug screening assays
topic Enterovirus G
Infectious clone
Reporter gene
Antiviral drug screening
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04960-0
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