Potential antiviral activity of rhamnocitrin against influenza virus H3N2 by inhibiting cGAS/STING pathway in vitro

Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 16;14(1):28287. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79788-z.

Abstract

Influenza remains a serious issue for public health and it's urgent to discover more effected drugs against influenza virus. Rhamnocitrin, as a flavonoid, its effect on influenza virus infection remains poorly explored. In this study, rhamnocitrin showed antiviral effect and anti-apoptosis on influenza virus A/Aichi/2/1968 (H3N2) in MDCK cells and A549 cells. In addition, molecular docking revealed that rhamnocitrin have good binding activity with the target proteins cGAS and STING, molecular dynamic simulation and surface plasmon resonance showed that rhamnocitrin could form a stable complex with the above proteins. Moreover, the qPCR and western blot assays further verified that rhamnocitrin could reduce type I IFN and proinflammatory cytokines production by inhibiting the cGAS/STING pathway. Taken together, the results suggest that rhamnocitrin could be a potential anti-viral agent against influenza.

Keywords: Anti-viral; Apoptosis; Influenza; Rhamnocitrin; STING; cGAS.

MeSH terms

  • A549 Cells
  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents* / chemistry
  • Antiviral Agents* / pharmacology
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Dogs
  • Humans
  • Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype* / drug effects
  • Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells
  • Membrane Proteins* / metabolism
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Nucleotidyltransferases* / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Nucleotidyltransferases* / metabolism
  • Quercetin / chemistry
  • Quercetin / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction* / drug effects

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Nucleotidyltransferases
  • Membrane Proteins
  • STING1 protein, human
  • cGAS protein, human
  • Quercetin
  • Cytokines