García-Murria, Mª JesúsGadea-Salom, LauraMoreno, SandraRius-Salvador, MarinaZaragoza, OscarBrun, AlejandroMingarro, IsmaelMartínez-Gil, Luis2023-06-062023-06-062023-05-24Virol J. 2023 May 24;20(1):99.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/16143Several approaches have been developed to analyze the entry of highly pathogenic viruses. In this study, we report the implementation of a Bimolecular Multicellular Complementation (BiMuC) assay to safely and efficiently monitor SARS-CoV-2 S-mediated membrane fusion without the need for microscopy-based equipment. Using BiMuC, we screened a library of approved drugs and identified compounds that enhance S protein-mediated cell-cell membrane fusion. Among them, ethynylestradiol promotes the growth of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A virus in vitro. Our findings demonstrate the potential of BiMuC for identifying small molecules that modulate the life cycle of enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.engVoREnveloped virusHTSHigh-throughput screeningInfluenza a virusMembrane fusionNipah virusSARS-CoV-2SyncytiumViral entryCOVID-19HumansSARS-CoV-2Virus InternalizationBiological AssayGene LibraryAtribución 4.0 Internacional372262312019910.1186/s12985-023-02068-11743-422XVirology journalopen access