1. Academic Validation
  2. Discovery of SARS-CoV-2-E channel inhibitors as antiviral candidates

Discovery of SARS-CoV-2-E channel inhibitors as antiviral candidates

  • Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2022 Apr;43(4):781-787. doi: 10.1038/s41401-021-00732-2.
Yi Wang  # 1 2 Sui Fang  # 1 Yan Wu  # 3 Xi Cheng 1 2 Lei-Ke Zhang 3 Xu-Rui Shen 1 2 Shuang-Qu Li 1 2 Jian-Rong Xu 4 5 Wei-Juan Shang 6 Zhao-Bing Gao 7 8 9 Bing-Qing Xia 10 11
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Stake Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China.
  • 4 Academy of Integrative Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, China.
  • 5 Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China. shangweijuan@wh.iov.cn.
  • 7 CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Stake Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China. zbgao@simm.ac.cn.
  • 8 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. zbgao@simm.ac.cn.
  • 9 Zhongshan Institute of Drug Discovery, Institution for Drug Discovery Innovation, Chinese Academy of Science, Zhongshan, 528400, China. zbgao@simm.ac.cn.
  • 10 CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Stake Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China. xiabingqing@simm.ac.cn.
  • 11 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. xiabingqing@simm.ac.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Lack of efficiency has been a major problem shared by all currently developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapies. Our previous study shows that SARS-CoV-2 structural envelope (2-E) protein forms a type of cation channel, and heterogeneously expression of 2-E channels causes host cell death. In this study we developed a cell-based high throughput screening (HTS) assay and used it to discover inhibitors against 2-E channels. Among 4376 compounds tested, 34 hits with cell protection activity were found. Followed by an anti-viral analysis, 15 compounds which could inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication were identified. In electrophysiological experiments, three representatives showing inhibitory effect on 2-E channels were chosen for further characterization. Among them, proanthocyanidins directly bound to 2-E channel with binding affinity (KD) of 22.14 μM in surface plasmon resonance assay. Molecular modeling and docking analysis revealed that proanthocyanidins inserted into the pore of 2-E N-terminal vestibule acting as a channel blocker. Consistently, mutations of Glu 8 and Asn 15, two residues lining the proposed binding pocket, abolished the inhibitory effects of proanthocyanidins. The natural product proanthocyanidins are widely used as cosmetic, suggesting a potential of proanthocyanidins as disinfectant for external use. This study further demonstrates that 2-E channel is an effective Antiviral drug target and provides a potential Antiviral candidate against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2; anti-virus; cation channel; envelope protein (2-E); high-throughput screening (HTS).

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