Inhibition of enterovirus A71 by selenium nanoparticles interferes with JNK signaling pathways

Abstract

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is the major causative agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Currently, there are no effective drugs for EV-A71 infection. Selenium (Se) is a vital nutritional trace element in human body and plays a certain protective role in viral infectious diseases. As a novel Se species, selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) with their small size and low side effects are attracting increasing attention because of their excellent bioavailability. In this study, SeNPs were synthesized, and their antiviral property was demonstrated in Vero cells. In brief, SeNPs have been demonstrated to inhibit the infection of EV-A71 by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide and cytopathic effect. The reduction of the nucleic acid levels of the virus suggested that SeNPs resisted the proliferation of the EV-A71 virus in Vero cells. In addition, SeNPs effectively reduced the activation of both caspase-8 and caspase-9 induced by the EV-A71 virus. Furthermore, SeNPs downregulated the phosphorylation of Jun amino terminal kinase and inhibited the apoptosis of Vero cells induced by EV-A71. In summary, SeNPs remarkably resisted EV-A71 virus-induced apoptosis of Vero cells. Taken together, this study demonstrates that SeNPs are a novel promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of EV-A71 virus infection.