Dengue fever is the most common mosquito-borne viral disease and is caused by the dengue virus (DENV). There is still a lack of efficient drugs against DENV infection, so it is urgent to develop new inhibitors for future clinical use. Our previous research indicated the role of VEGFR2/AMPK in regulating cellular metabolism during DENV infection, while acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) is located downstream of AMPK and plays a crucial role in mediating cellular lipid synthesis; therefore, we speculated that an ACC inhibitor could serve as an antiviral agent against DENV. Luckily, we found that CP640186, a reported noncompetitive ACC inhibitor, significantly inhibited DENV proliferation, and CP640186 clearly reduced DENV2 proliferation at an early stage with an EC50 of 0.50 μM. A mechanism study indicated that CP640186 inhibited ACC activation and destroyed the cellular lipid environment for viral proliferation. In the DENV2 infection mice model, oral CP640186 administration (10 mg/kg/day) significantly improved the mice survival rate after DENV2 infection. In summary, our research suggests that lipid synthesis plays an important role during DENV2 proliferation and indicates that CP640186 is a promising drug candidate against DNEV2 in the future.
Keywords: CP640186; acetyl-CoA carboxylase; antiviral drugs; dengue virus.