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Updated: Jul 13, 2025

High-throughput Screening for Broad-spectrum Chemical Inhibitors of RNA Viruses
Published on: May 5, 2014
2-thiouridine is a broad-spectrum antiviral nucleoside analogue against positive-strand RNA viruses
Kentaro Uemura1,2,3,4, Haruaki Nobori2, Akihiko Sato2,3,5
1Laboratory of Biomolecular Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
Abstract:
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections are causing significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Furthermore, over 1 million cases of newly emerging or re-emerging viral infections, specifically dengue virus (DENV), are known to occur annually. Because no virus-specific and fully effective treatments against these or many other viruses have been approved, there is an urgent need for novel, effective therapeutic agents. Here, we identified 2-thiouridine (s2U) as a broad-spectrum antiviral ribonucleoside analogue that exhibited antiviral activity against several positive-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA+) viruses, such as DENV, SARS-CoV-2, and its variants of concern, including the currently circulating Omicron subvariants. s2U inhibits RNA synthesis catalyzed by viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, thereby reducing viral RNA replication, which improved the survival rate of mice infected with DENV2 or SARS-CoV-2 in our animal models. Our findings demonstrate that s2U is a potential broad-spectrum antiviral agent not only against DENV and SARS-CoV-2 but other ssRNA+ viruses.
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