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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Early Viral Entry Assays for the Identification and Evaluation of Antiviral Compounds
Published on: October 29, 2015
Antiviral constituents against respiratory viruses from Mikania micrantha
Paul Pui-Hay But1, Zhen-Dan He, Shuang-Cheng Ma
1Department of Biology and Biochemistry and Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. paulbut@cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract:
Phytochemical investigation of the dried aerial parts of Mikania micrantha led to the isolation of a new sesquiterpene, 3beta-acetoxy-1,10-epoxy-4-germacrene-12,8;15,6-diolide (1), along with six known constituents: 1,10-epoxy-4-germacrene-12,8;15,6-diolide (2), dihydromikanolide (3), potassium mikanin 3-sulfate (4), mikanin (5), alpinetin (6), and ergosta-7,22-dien-3beta-ol (7). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, and the molecular structures and stereochemistry of sesquiterpene lactones 1-3 were revealed by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Compound 2 showed moderate activity against respiratory syncytial virus (IC(50) = 37.4 uM) and parainfluenza type 3 virus (IC(50) = 37.4 uM) with a therapeutic index (TI) of 16.0 for both compounds. Compound 4, the main component of M. micrantha, exhibited inhibitory activity against parainfluenza type 3 virus with IC(50) (19.7 uM) and TI (24.0) values comparable to those of ribavirin, serving as a positive control.
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