Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious illness caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originally identified in Wuhan, China (December 2019) and has since expanded into a pandemic. Here, we investigate metabolites present in several common spices as possible inhibitors of COVID-19. Specifically, 32 compounds isolated from 14 cooking seasonings were examined as inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^{pro}), which is required for viral multiplication. Using a drug discovery approach to identify possible antiviral leads, in silico molecular docking studies were performed. Docking calculations revealed a high potency of salvianolic acid A and curcumin as M^{pro} inhibitors with binding energies of -9.7 and -9.2 kcal/mol, respectively. Binding mode analysis demonstrated the ability of salvianolic acid A and curcumin to form nine and six hydrogen bonds, respectively with amino acids proximal to M^{pro}’s active site. Stabilities and binding affinities of the two identified natural spices were calculated over 40 ns molecular dynamics simulations and compared to an antiviral protease inhibitor (lopinavir). Molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area energy calculations revealed greater salvianolic acid A affinity for the enzyme over curcumin and lopinavir with energies of -44.8, -34.2 and -34.8 kcal/mol, respectively. Using a STRING database, protein-protein interactions were identified for salvianolic acid A included the biochemical signaling genes ACE, MAPK14 and ESR1; and for curcumin, EGFR and TNF. This study establishes salvianolic acid A as an in silico natural product inhibitor against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease and provides a promising inhibitor lead for in vitro enzyme testing.
【저자키워드】 molecular docking, molecular dynamics, SARS-CoV-2 main protease, spices, secondary metabolites,