High-Throughput Screening of Antiviral Compounds Using a Recombinant Hepatitis B Virus and Identification of a Possible Infection Inhibitor, Skimmianine.

We developed a novel hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection-monitoring system using a luminescent, 11-amino acid reporter (HiBiT). We performed high-throughput antiviral screening using this system to identify anti-HBV compounds. After the infection of primary human hepatocytes with the recombinant virus HiBiT-HBV, which contains HiBiT at its preS1, 1262 compounds were tested in a first screening using extracellular HiBiT activity as an indicator of viral infection. Following a second screening, we focused on the compound skimmianine, which showed a potent antiviral effect. When skimmianine was added at the same time as HiBiT-HBV infection, skimmianine inhibited HiBiT activity with EC of 0.36 pM, CC of 1.67 μM and a selectivity index (CC:EC ratio) of 5,100,000. When skimmianine was added 72 h after HiBiT-HBV infection, the EC, CC and selectivity index were 0.19 μM, 1.87 μM and 8.79, respectively. Time-lapse fluorescence imaging analysis using another recombinant virus, ReAsH-TC155HBV, with the insertion of tetra-cysteine within viral capsid, revealed that skimmianine inhibited the accumulation of the capsid into hepatocytes. Furthermore, skimmianine did not inhibit either attachment or internalization. These results imply that skimmianine inhibits the retrograde trafficking of the virus after internalization. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the recombinant virus, HiBiT-HBV, for high-throughput screening to identify anti-HBV compounds.