Fungal metabolites as potential antiviral in canine and feline coronaviruses infection: investigation of their activity and mechanism of action.
Summary
Coronaviruses (CoVs) continue to emerge and mutate, posing ongoing pandemic/epidemic threats to both human and animal health. This project aims to address the urgent need for new antiviral drugs by focusing on naturally occurring secondary metabolites (SMs) produced by fungi, specifically funicones and sphaeropsidines.
We use Canine Coronavirus (CCoV) and Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus (FIPV/FCoV) as non-pathogenic-for-humans models to investigate potential broad-spectrum antivirals.
Objectives
The main objectives are:
1. To select fungal strains and optimize the production of specific Secondary Metabolites (SMs).
2. To evaluate the in vitro antiviral effectiveness of the selected SMs against CCoV and FCoV.
3. To investigate the mechanism of action of the most effective SMs, with a focus on their interaction with host receptors such as the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and formyl peptide receptors (FPRs). 4. To assess the ability of the metabolites to chelate metal ions, like iron, which is relevant for viral replication.
Duration: 24 months
The principal investigator of the project is Prof. Filomena Fiorito
Funding
This project is funded by:
Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR)
* Program: PRIN (Progetti di Ricerca di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale) | Bando 2022 PNRR | South Line
Prot. No.: P2022WXE4T
European Union
The project is funded by the European Union through NextGenerationEU
Main ERC field:
LS – Life Sciences
Other ERC field:
PE – Physical Sciences and Engineering
ERC subfields:
LS6_8 Biological basisof prevention and treatment of infection
LS6_7 Mechanisms of infection
PE5_17 Organic chemistry