IDENTIFICATION OF SMALL MOLECULES TO PREVENT PORCINE REPRODUCTIVE AND RESPIRATORY SYNDROME VIRUS (PRRSV)

Thegoal of this project is to identify phytoceuticals or synthetic compounds for prophylactic or therapeutic use (either alone or as adjunct to vaccination programs) for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) in pigs.Theoverall objectives are1)to determine the inhibitory effect of a specific natural compoundand as a more cost-effective approach, its herb formon PRRSV infectionin vivo, and identify additional lead compounds from the derivatives/analogues of this compoundon PRRSV infection ofporcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs);2)to develop a lead compound from a specific synthetic compoundand its derivatives/analogues and characterize this compound for toxicity and efficacy on inhibiting PRRSV infectionin vivo; and3)to perform high-throughput (HTP) screening on a small chemical library of 150,000 compounds, to identify additional compounds that block the PRRSV-CD163 interaction and PRRSV infection of PAMsin vitro.