potently inhibits the activity of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease.

Journal: Biochemistry and biophysics reports
Published Date: Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

The ongoing coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) still urgently requires effective treatments. The 3C-like (3CL) protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a highly conserved cysteine protease that plays an important role in the viral life cycle and host inflammation, providing an ideal target for developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. Herein, we describe the discovery of a large number of herbs mainly produced in Heilongjiang Province, China, that exhibited different inhibitory activities against SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease. We confirmed that , which is used for clinical treatment of chronic bronchitis and asthma, is a specific and potent inhibitor of 3CL protease. A 70 % ethanol extract of dose-dependently inhibited the cleavage activity of 3CL protease in a fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay with an IC value of 0.0018 mg/mL, but had minimal effect in pseudovirus-based cell entry and luciferase-based RNA-dependent RNA polymerase assays. These results suggest that will be a potential leading candidate for COVID-19 treatment.

Authors

  • Zhichao Hao
    Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Ministry of Education of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, No. 24 Haping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, PR China.
  • Yuan Liu
    Department of General Surgery, Wuxi People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China.
  • Wei Guan
    Department of Stomatology, Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital, China, P.R. China.
  • Juan Pan
    Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Ministry of Education of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, No. 24 Haping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, PR China.
  • MengMeng Li
    Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Ministry of Education of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, No. 24 Haping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, PR China.
  • Jiatong Wu
    Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Ministry of Education of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, No. 24 Haping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, PR China.
  • Yan Liu
    Department of Clinical Microbiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, People's Republic of China.
  • Haixue Kuang
    Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Ministry of Education of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, No. 24 Haping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, PR China.
  • Bingyou Yang
    Key Laboratory of Chinese Materia Medica, Ministry of Education of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, No. 24 Haping Road, Xiangfang District, Harbin, 150040, PR China.

Keywords

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