1. Academic Validation
  2. Tubeimosides are pan-coronavirus and filovirus inhibitors that can block their fusion protein binding to Niemann-Pick C1

Tubeimosides are pan-coronavirus and filovirus inhibitors that can block their fusion protein binding to Niemann-Pick C1

  • Nat Commun. 2024 Jan 2;15(1):162. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-44504-4.
Ilyas Khan 1 Sunan Li 1 Lihong Tao 1 Chong Wang 1 Bowei Ye 2 Huiyu Li 2 Xiaoyang Liu 1 Iqbal Ahmad 1 Wenqiang Su 1 Gongxun Zhong 1 Zhiyuan Wen 1 Jinliang Wang 1 Rong-Hong Hua 1 Ao Ma 2 Jie Liang 2 Xiao-Peng Wan 3 Zhi-Gao Bu 4 Yong-Hui Zheng 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China.
  • 2 Center for Bioinformatics and Quantitative Biology, Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China. wanxiaopeng@caas.cn.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, China. buzhigao@caas.cn.
  • 5 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA. zhengyh@uic.edu.
Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 and Filovirus enter cells via the cell surface angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) or the late-endosome Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) as a receptor. Here, we screened 974 natural compounds and identified Tubeimosides I, II, and III as pan-coronavirus and Filovirus entry inhibitors that target NPC1. Using in-silico, biochemical, and genomic approaches, we provide evidence that NPC1 also binds SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein on the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which is blocked by Tubeimosides. Importantly, NPC1 strongly promotes productive SARS-CoV-2 entry, which we propose is due to its influence on fusion in late endosomes. The Tubeimosides' Antiviral activity and NPC1 function are further confirmed by Infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC), SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. Thus, NPC1 is a critical entry co-factor for highly pathogenic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in the late endosomes, and Tubeimosides hold promise as a new countermeasure for these HCoVs and filoviruses.

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