A serious pandemic has been caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The interaction between spike surface viral protein (Sgp) and the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) cellular receptor is essential to understand the SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and pathogenicity. Currently, no drugs are available to treat the infection caused by this coronavirus and the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) may be a promising alternative therapeutic strategy to control SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we investigated the in silico interaction of AMPs with viral structural proteins and host cell receptors. We screened the antimicrobial peptide database (APD3) and selected 15 peptides based on their physicochemical and antiviral properties. The interactions of AMPs with Sgp and ACE2 were performed by docking analysis. The results revealed that two amphibian AMPs, caerin 1.6 and caerin 1.10, had the highest affinity for Sgp proteins while interaction with the ACE2 receptor was reduced. The effective AMPs interacted particularly with Arg995 located in the S2 subunits of Sgp, which is key subunit that plays an essential role in viral fusion and entry into the host cell through ACE2. Given these computational findings, new potentially effective AMPs with antiviral properties for SARS-CoV-2 were identified, but they need experimental validation for their therapeutic effectiveness.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, Spike protein, antimicrobial peptides, 【초록키워드】 ACE2, coronavirus, pandemic, Infection, peptide, ACE2 receptor, drug, docking, in silico, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, database, Protein, Viral, therapeutic, Effectiveness, peptides, structural proteins, antimicrobial peptides, receptors, structural protein, respiratory, pathogenicity, docking analysis, therapeutic strategy, S2 subunit, Angiotensin-converting enzyme, Interaction, Analysis, angiotensin, antiviral property, host cell, acute respiratory syndrome, Viral protein, subunit, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, experimental validation, antiviral properties, treat, antimicrobial peptide, AMPs, cellular receptor, highest affinity, AMP, effective, selected, performed, caused, investigated, screened, in viral, was reduced, physicochemical, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 antimicrobial, Control, antimicrobial peptides,