Glutathione-Capped Ag 2 S Nanoclusters Inhibit Coronavirus Proliferation through Blockage of Viral RNA Synthesis and Budding.

Development of novel antiviral reagents is of great importance for the control of virus spread. Here, Ag2 S nanoclusters (NCs) were proved for the first time to possess highly efficient antiviral activity by using porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) as a model of coronavirus. Analyses of virus titers showed that Ag2 S NCs significantly suppressed the infection of PEDV by about 3 orders of magnitude at the noncytotoxic concentration at 12 h postinfection, which was further confirmed by the expression of viral proteins. Mechanism investigations indicated that Ag2 S NCs treatment inhibits the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding. Ag2 S NCs treatment was also found to positively regulate the generation of IFN-stimulating genes (ISGs) and the expression of proinflammation cytokines, which might prevent PEDV infection. This study suggest the novel underlying of Ag2 S NCs as a promising therapeutic drug for coronavirus.