Enteroviruses, e.g., polio-, coxsackie-and rhinoviruses, constitute a large genus within the Picornaviridae family of positive-strand RNA viruses and include many important pathogens linked to a variety of acute and chronic diseases. Despite their huge medical and economic impact, no approved antiviral therapy is yet available. Recently, the oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP) was implicated as a host factor for enterovirus replication. Here, we investigated the antiviral activity of the natural compound OSW-1, a ligand of OSBP that is under investigation as an anti-cancer drug. OSW-1 potently inhibited the replication of all enteroviruses tested, with IC50 values in the low nanomolar range, acted at the genome replication stage and was effective in all tested cell types of three different species. Importantly, OSBP overexpression rescued viral replication, demonstrating that the antiviral effect of OSW-1 is due to targeting OSBP. Together, we here report the anti-enterovirus activity of the natural anti-cancer compound OSW-1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Enteroviruses form a large genus belonging to the Picornaviridae family of positive-strand RNA viruses [(+)RNA] and include important human pathogens. Enteroviral infections have been implicated in a number of acute and chronic diseases, ranging from poliomyelitis (poliovirus), meningoencephalitis and myocarditis (coxsackieviruses and echoviruses), and common cold to asthma exacerbation and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (rhinoviruses). Poliovirus is the only member of the genus for which an efficient vaccine is available and no antiviral therapy is currently approved for treating enteroviral infections. OSW-1 is a natural compound extracted from the bulbs of the plant Ornithogalum saundersiae that has been studied mainly for its anti-cancer activity. Burgett et al. (2011) identified OSBP as a high-affinity target of OSW-1 using affinity chromatography and demonstrated that OSW-1 exerts its anti-cancer activity via OSBP.In this study, we investigated the antiviral activity of OSW-1. We assessed the effect of OSW-1 on a single-round of infection of HeLa or Buffalo Green Monkey (BGM) kidney cells by viruses from different species in the Enterovirus genus, i.e., enterovirus 71 (EV71, enterovirus A species), coxsackievirus A21 (CVA21, enterovirus C species), human rhinovirus 2 (HRV2, rhinovirus A species) and human rhinovirus 14 (HRV-14, rhinovirus B species). All enteroviruses tested were sensitive to OSW-1, with IC50 values ranging between 2.4 and 9.4 nM ( Fig. 1A-E). Cell viability assays performed in parallel revealed no cytotoxicity (CC50 > 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 ...