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Highlights • Imidazole was found to be the potential inhibitor of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection. • The imidazole derivative was found equally effective to reduce NDV infection in chicken. • The imidazole and its derivative specific activities could be due to modulation of type I interferon. Abstract Despite recent progress in vaccination options, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) stands a severe global epidemic and economic burden. It is difficult to control NDV with vaccination alone due to its evolving genetic variability; therefore, an effective therapeutic must target to resist its replication and further evolution. Drug repurposing is a practical and economical method to develop therapeutics against pathogenic organisms. Applying the knowledge of the broadly used antimicrobial activity of imidazole and its derivatives, we performed repurposing-based design of therapeutics to induce protection against NDV. We checked the ability of the compound at sub-lethal doses to reduce NDV replication in vitro , in ovo and in vivo. Chickens treated with the repurposed drug produced antiviral type I interferon and showed no shedding of the virus. Successful designing of novel NDV drug, in this study empirically demonstrates the principle that repurposing can be used for developing antiviral therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Effect of Lithium chloride (LiCl) on Newcastle disease virus (NDV) replication in vitro , in ovo and in vivo. • Modulation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and stress inducive protein upon NDV infection. • Protective effect of LiCl against NDV-induced ER stress. Newcastle disease is a severe clinical manifestation of avian species caused by Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Although several vaccination strategies are available to protect poultry against NDV infection, even then, outbreaks have been reported in the vaccinated birds. The lack of therapeutics against NDV makes the need for effective anti-viral drugs is of utmost importance. Lithium Chloride (LiCl) is a widely prescribed drug for the treatment of bipolar disorder, acute brain injuries, and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Also, LiCl has been repurposed as an effective anti-viral drug for some viral infections. In the present work, we have investigated the efficacy of LiCl to inhibit NDV replication using in vitro , in ovo, and in vivo models. Our results collectively showed the modulation of NDV replication after the LiCl treatment. We also demonstrated that NDV induces endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER-stress), and a stress-inducible ER chaperone, glucose-regulating protein 78 (GRP78), was found to be over-expressed after NDV infection. Subsequently, the treatment of NDV infected cells with LiCl significantly reduced the transcript and protein levels of GRP78. Finally, we concluded that LiCl treatment protects the cells from ER-stress induced by the NDV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Historical perspective and global scenario about Newcastle disease. [•] Characteristics about Newcastle disease virus genome. [•] Replication and pathogenicity of Newcastle disease virus. [•] Use of Newcastle disease virus as a vaccine vector. [•] Newcastle disease virus as an oncolytic agent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Avian paramyxoviruses (APMVs) belong to the genus Avulavirus in the family Paramyxoviridae and include at least nine serotypes, APMV-1 to -9, as well as two additional provisional serotypes. Newcastle disease virus (NDV), which comprises APMV-1, is the most extensively studied APMV because it is an important poultry pathogen. A moderate level of antigenic and genetic diversity is recognized for APMV-1 isolates, but our knowledge of the antigenic and genetic diversity of the other APMV serotypes is limited. APMV-4 is frequently isolated from waterfowl around the world. To date complete genome sequences of APMV-4 are available for only strains, which were isolated from ducks in Hong Kong, Korea and Belgium over a period of 37 years. We have carried out genome sequencing from the nucleocapsid (N) gene-end signal to the polymerase (L) gene-start signal of five APMV-4 strains recently isolated from Italy. Each of the eight APMV-4 strains has the same F protein cleavage site, DIQPR↓F. They also share a high level of nucleotide and amino acid sequence identity: for example, the F and HN glycoproteins have greater than 97% sequence identity between the various strains. Thus, comparison of these eight strains of APMV-4 did not provide evidence of substantial diversity, in contrast to similar studies with APMV-2, -3, and -6, in which the F and HN glycoproteins exhibited up to 20–30% amino acid sequence variation within a subgroup. Reciprocal cross-HI assay using post infection chicken sera also failed to detect significant antigenic variation among the available APMV-4 strains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]