Until now, antiviral therapeutic agents are still urgently required for treatment or prevention of SARS-coronavirus 2 (SCoV-2) virus infection. In this study, we established a sensitive SCoV-2 Spike glycoprotein (SP), including an SP mutant D614G, pseudotyped HIV-1-based vector system and tested their ability to infect ACE2-expressing cells. Based on this system, we have demonstrated that an aqueous extract from the Natural herb Prunella vulgaris (NhPV) displayed potent inhibitory effects on SCoV-2 SP (including SP G614 mutant) pseudotyped virus (SCoV-2-SP-PVs) mediated infections. Moreover, we have compared NhPV with another compound, Suramin, for their anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities and the mode of their actions, and found that both NhPV and Suramin are able to directly interrupt SCoV-2–SP binding to its receptor ACE2 and block the viral entry step. Importantly, the inhibitory effects of NhPV and Suramin were confirmed by the wild type SARS-CoV-2 (hCoV-19/Canada/ON-VIDO-01/2020) virus infection in Vero cells. Furthermore, our results also demonstrated that the combination of NhPV/Suramin with an anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody mediated a more potent blocking effect against SCoV2-SP-PVs. Overall, by using SARS-CoV-2 SP-pseudotyped HIV-1-based entry system, we provide strong evidence that NhPV and Suramin have anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and may be developed as a novel antiviral approach against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
【초록키워드】 Treatment, neutralizing antibody, SARS-CoV-2, Antiviral, spike, SARS-COV-2 infection, spike glycoprotein, anti-SARS-CoV-2, viral entry, infections, Viral, Pseudotyped virus, HCoV, D614G, therapeutic agent, therapeutic agents, glycoprotein, mutant, virus infection, wild type, binding, Evidence, Suramin, Combination, Inhibitory effects, Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Activity, Prunella vulgaris, SARS-coronavirus, natural, mode, this system, inhibitory effect, Vero cells, receptor ACE2, ACE2-expressing cells, SP binding, pseudotyped, infect, approach, tested, required, demonstrated, 【제목키워드】 virus entry, identification, inhibitory effect,