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Assays for the Identification of Novel Antivirals against Bluetongue Virus
Published on: October 11, 2013
Colloidal aggregation confounds cell-based Covid-19 antiviral screens
Isabella S Glenn1, Lauren N Hall1, Mir M Khalid2,3
1Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA, USA.
Colloidal aggregation in drug candidates can cause false positives in COVID-19 antiviral screens. Pre-saturation with BSA or detergents can reveal true drug efficacy by disrupting these aggregates.
Area of Science:
- Drug discovery and chemical biology
- Virology and infectious diseases
- Biophysics and colloid science
Background:
- Colloidal aggregation is a significant source of false-positive results in early drug discovery.
- Its impact on cell-based infectivity assays for COVID-19 drug repurposing remains underexplored.
- Understanding aggregation is crucial for accurate assessment of antiviral compounds.
Conclusions:
- Colloidal aggregation is a common artifact in cell-based antiviral drug repurposing for COVID-19.
- Aggregation can mask true compound efficacy, leading to false positives.
- Rapid counter-screens using BSA or detergents can identify and mitigate these artifacts, improving drug discovery efficiency.
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