Antiviralfun

5th Joint Call: Antiviralfun

The proposal aims to discover new antiviral compounds from filamentous fungi collected in Europe and Thailand. By integrating biodiversity exploration, natural product chemistry, and infection biology, Antiviralfun seeks to identify and characterize novel antiviral metabolites effective against RNA viruses, including Dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2.
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Background

Emerging and re-emerging viral infections such as Dengue and COVID-19 highlight the urgent need for new antiviral agents. Current antiviral options are limited, and broad-spectrum antivirals are rare.

Fungi represent a largely untapped source of bioactive secondary metabolites with antimicrobial potential. Previous collaborations among the partners have yielded novel antibiotics from endophytic and invertebrate-associated fungi. This project expands these efforts to antiviral discovery, leveraging established compound libraries and access to new fungal biodiversity.

The project

Antiviralfun pursues the following objectives:

  • Screen fungal metabolites from existing and newly collected species for antiviral activity.
  • Develop and optimize antiviral bioassays against Dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2, adaptable to future emerging viruses.
  • Characterize biological activities of promising compounds, including cytotoxicity, antifungal, and antibacterial properties.
  • Benchmark lead candidates against EU-OPENSCREEN’s pilot compound library.
  • Characterize producing fungal strains to ensure reproducibility and optimal production.
  • Deliver at least three comprehensively characterized lead compounds for further medicinal chemistry development.

The science

The project combines expertise in natural product discovery, infection biology, and biodiversity research:

  • Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Germany): Antiviral screening platforms, BSL-3 laboratories, and compound profiling.
  • National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Thailand): Biodiversity exploration and fungal metabolite discovery.
  • Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic): Fungal taxonomy, metabolite extraction, and profiling.
  • EU-OPENSCREEN (Germany): High-throughput screening and compound library resources.

Expected outcomes include novel antiviral leads, validated assays for emerging viruses, and contributions to fungal biodiversity repositories.

The team

The Antiviralfun partners are:

  • Prof. Ursula Bilitewski (Coordinator), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany
  • Dr. Jennifer Luangsa-ard, National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Thailand
  • Dr. Miroslav Kolarik, Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
  • Dr. Bahne Stechmann, EU-OPENSCREEN, Germany

 

Contact:

Prof. Ursula Bilitewski               Email: ursula.bilitewski@helmholtz-hzi.de 

Tags
INFECTIOUS DISEASES