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Animal venoms as a source of antiviral peptides active against arboviruses: a systematic review

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Abstract

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), such as Zika virus (ZIKV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), dengue virus (DENV), yellow fever virus (YFV), and West Nile virus (WNV), are pathogens of global importance. Therefore, there has been an increasing need for new drugs for the treatment of these viral infections. In this context, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) obtained from animal venoms stand out as promising compounds because they exhibit strong antiviral activity against emerging arboviral pathogens. Thus, we systematically searched and critically analyzed in vitro and in vivo studies that evaluated the anti-arbovirus effect of peptide derivatives from toxins produced by vertebrates and invertebrates. Thirteen studies that evaluated the antiviral action of 10 peptides against arboviruses were included in this review. The peptides were derived from the venom of scorpions, spiders, wasps, snakes, sea snails, and frogs and were tested against DENV, ZIKV, YFV, WNV, and CHIKV. Despite the high structural variety of the peptides included in this study, their antiviral activity appears to be associated with the presence of positive charges, an excess of basic amino acids (mainly lysine), and a high isoelectric point (above 8). These peptides use different antiviral mechanisms, the most common of which is the inhibition of viral replication, release, entry, or fusion. Moreover, peptides with virucidal and cytoprotective (pre-treatment) effects were also identified. In conclusion, animal-venom-derived peptides stand out as a promising alternative in the search and development of prototype antivirals against arboviruses.

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Acknowledgments

W.G.L. and J.M.A are grateful to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Nível Superior (CAPES) for a Ph.D. fellowship. M.P.R is grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for a DTI fellowship. M.E.L. is grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) for grants.

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Author notes

  1. William Gustavo Lima, César Quadros Maia and Thayane Santos de Carvalho contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Researcher of the Group (CNPq) for Epidemiological, Economic and Pharmacological Studies of Arboviruses (EEPIFARBO), Marabá, Brazil

    William Gustavo Lima, Júlio César Moreira Brito & Isabella Piassi Dias Godói

  2. Laboratório de Microbiologia Médica, Laboratório de Diagnóstico Laboratorial e Microbiologia Clínica, Campus Centro Oeste Dona Lindu, Universidade Federal de São João Del-Rei (UFSJ-CCO), Rua Sebastião Gonçalves Coelho, 400, Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, 35501-293, Brazil

    William Gustavo Lima, César Quadros Maia, Thayane Santos de Carvalho & Jaqueline Maria Siqueira Ferreira

  3. Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG-Campus V), Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Gustavo Oliveira Leite

  4. Fundação Ezequiel Dias (FUNED), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Júlio César Moreira Brito

  5. Instituto de Estudos em Saúde e Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará, Marabá, Pará, Brazil

    Isabella Piassi Dias Godói

  6. Faculdade Santa Casa de Belo Horizonte: Programa de Pós Graduação em Medicina-Biomedicina, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Maria Elena de Lima

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  1. William Gustavo Lima
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Lima, W.G., Maia, C.Q., de Carvalho, T.S. et al. Animal venoms as a source of antiviral peptides active against arboviruses: a systematic review. Arch Virol 167, 1763–1772 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-022-05494-8

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