This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cottier, V. Articles by Lüthi, U. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cottier, V. Articles by Lüthi, U.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, February 2006, p. 565-571, Vol. 50, No. 2
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.50.2.565-571.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Novel Yeast Cell-Based Assay To Screen for Inhibitors of Human Cytomegalovirus Protease in a High-Throughput Format

ESBATech AG, Wagistr. 21, CH-8952 Zurich-Schlieren, Switzerland

Received 15 September 2005/ Returned for modification 9 November 2005/ Accepted 23 November 2005

The protease encoded by the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an attractive target for antiviral drug development because of its essential function in viral replication. We describe here a cellular assay in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the identification of small molecule inhibitors of HCMV protease by conditional growth in selective medium. In this system, the protease cleavage sequence is inserted into the N-(5'-phosphoribosyl)anthranilate isomerase (Trp1p), a yeast protein essential for cell proliferation in the absence of tryptophan. Coexpression of HCMV protease with the engineered Trp1p substrate in yeast cells results in site-specific cleavage and functional inactivation of the Trp1p enzyme, thereby leading to an arrest of cell proliferation. This growth arrest can be suppressed by the addition of validated HCMV protease inhibitors. The growth selection system presented here provides the basis for a high-throughput screen to identify HCMV protease inhibitors that are active in eukaryotic cells.