Discovery of the anti-influenza A virus activity of SB216763 and cyclosporine A by mining infected cells and compound cellular signatures

In this study, SB216763 and cyclosporine A were identified as anti-influenza A virus (IAV) agents by transcriptome signature reversion (TSR) analysis through deep mining of the cellular transcriptome of human airway and lung cell lines infected with 3 strains of IAV and the chemical perturbations library. A synergistic effect of SB216763 and cyclosporine A against influenza A was disclosed by quantification of the network-based relationship, which was validated in vitro. Along with burgeoning omics approaches, transcriptome-based drug development is flourishing, which provides a novel insight into antivirals discovery with comprehensive cellular transcriptional information of disease and chemical perturbations in multicomponent intervention. This strategy can be applied as a new approach in discovering multitarget antiviral agents from approved drugs, clinical compounds, natural products or other known bioactive compounds.