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Davila KMS, Nelli RK, Mora-Díaz JC, Sang Y, Miller LC, Giménez-Lirola LG. Transcriptome Analysis in Air-Liquid Interface Porcine Respiratory Epithelial Cell Cultures Reveals That the Betacoronavirus Porcine Encephalomyelitis Hemagglutinating Virus Induces a Robust Interferon Response to Infection. Viruses 2024; 16:939. [PMID: 38932231 PMCID: PMC11209522 DOI: 10.3390/v16060939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Porcine hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (PHEV) replicates in the upper respiratory tract and tonsils of pigs. Using an air-liquid interface porcine respiratory epithelial cells (ALI-PRECs) culture system, we demonstrated that PHEV disrupts respiratory epithelia homeostasis by impairing ciliary function and inducing antiviral, pro-inflammatory cytokine, and chemokine responses. This study explores the mechanisms driving early innate immune responses during PHEV infection through host transcriptome analysis. Total RNA was collected from ALI-PRECs at 24, 36, and 48 h post inoculation (hpi). RNA-seq analysis was performed using an Illumina Hiseq 600 to generate 100 bp paired-end reads. Differential gene expression was analyzed using DeSeq2. PHEV replicated actively in ALI-PRECs, causing cytopathic changes and progressive mucociliary disruption. Transcriptome analysis revealed downregulation of cilia-associated genes such as CILK1, DNAH11, LRRC-23, -49, and -51, and acidic sialomucin CD164L2. PHEV also activated antiviral signaling pathways, significantly increasing the expression of interferon-stimulated genes (RSAD2, MX1, IFIT, and ISG15) and chemokine genes (CCL5 and CXCL10), highlighting inflammatory regulation. This study contributes to elucidating the molecular mechanisms of the innate immune response to PHEV infection of the airway epithelium, emphasizing the critical roles of the mucociliary, interferon, and chemokine responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlyn M. Sarlo Davila
- Infectious Bacterial Disease Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Ames, IA 50010, USA;
| | - Rahul K. Nelli
- Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; (R.K.N.); (J.C.M.-D.)
| | - Juan C. Mora-Díaz
- Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; (R.K.N.); (J.C.M.-D.)
| | - Yongming Sang
- Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN 37209, USA;
| | - Laura C. Miller
- Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Ames, IA 50010, USA
- Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Luis G. Giménez-Lirola
- Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; (R.K.N.); (J.C.M.-D.)
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2
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Duarte Filho LAMDS, Yanaguibashi Leal CE, Bodet PE, Beserra de Alencar Filho E, Almeida JRGDS, Porta Zapata M, Achour O, Groult H, Gouveia Veloso CA, Viegas Júnior C, Bourgougnon N, Picot L. The Identification of Peptide Inhibitors of the Coronavirus 3CL Protease from a Fucus ceranoides L. Hydroalcoholic Extract Using a Ligand-Fishing Strategy. Mar Drugs 2024; 22:244. [PMID: 38921555 PMCID: PMC11205194 DOI: 10.3390/md22060244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Brown seaweeds of the Fucus genus represent a rich source of natural antiviral products. In this study, a Fucus ceranoides hydroalcoholic extract (FCHE) was found to inhibit 74.2 ± 1.3% of the proteolytic activity of the free SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease (3CLpro), an enzyme that plays a pivotal role in polyprotein processing during coronavirus replication and has been identified as a relevant drug discovery target for SARS- and MERS-CoVs infections. To purify and identify 3CLpro ligands with potential inhibitory activity using a one-step approach, we immobilized the enzyme onto magnetic microbeads (3CLpro-MPs), checked that the enzymatic activity was maintained after grafting, and used this bait for a ligand-fishing strategy followed by a high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of the fished-out molecules. Proof of concept for the ligand-fishing capacity of the 3CLpro-MPs was demonstrated by doping the FCHE extract with the substrate peptide TSAVLQ-pNA, resulting in the preferential capture of this high-affinity peptide within the macroalgal complex matrix. Ligand fishing in the FCHE alone led to the purification and identification via high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) of seven hepta-, octa-, and decapeptides in an eluate mix that significantly inhibited the free 3CLpro more than the starting FCHE (82.7 ± 2.2% inhibition). Molecular docking simulations of the interaction between each of the seven peptides and the 3CLpro demonstrated a high affinity for the enzyme's proteolytic active site surpassing that of the most affine peptide ligand identified so far (a co-crystallographic peptide). Testing of the corresponding synthetic peptides demonstrated that four out of seven significantly inhibited the free 3CLpro (from 46.9 ± 6.4 to 76.8 ± 3.6% inhibition at 10 µM). This study is the first report identifying peptides from Fucus ceranoides with high inhibitory activity against the SARS-CoV-2 3CLprotease which bind with high affinity to the protease's active site. It also confirms the effectiveness of the ligand-fishing strategy for the single-step purification of enzyme inhibitors from complex seaweed matrices.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cintia Emi Yanaguibashi Leal
- Unité de Génie Enzymatique et Cellulaire, UMR CNRS 7025, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 80039 Amiens, France;
| | - Pierre-Edouard Bodet
- Plateforme D’analyse Haute Résolution des Biomolécules, UMR CNRS 7266 LIENSs, La Rochelle Université, 17042 La Rochelle, France;
| | | | | | - Manon Porta Zapata
- Littoral Environnement et Societés (LIENSs), UMRi CNRS 7266, La Rochelle Université, 17042 La Rochelle, France; (L.A.M.d.S.D.F.); (M.P.Z.); (O.A.); (H.G.)
| | - Oussama Achour
- Littoral Environnement et Societés (LIENSs), UMRi CNRS 7266, La Rochelle Université, 17042 La Rochelle, France; (L.A.M.d.S.D.F.); (M.P.Z.); (O.A.); (H.G.)
| | - Hugo Groult
- Littoral Environnement et Societés (LIENSs), UMRi CNRS 7266, La Rochelle Université, 17042 La Rochelle, France; (L.A.M.d.S.D.F.); (M.P.Z.); (O.A.); (H.G.)
| | - Carlos Arthur Gouveia Veloso
- Littoral Environnement et Societés (LIENSs), UMRi CNRS 7266, La Rochelle Université, 17042 La Rochelle, France; (L.A.M.d.S.D.F.); (M.P.Z.); (O.A.); (H.G.)
| | - Claudio Viegas Júnior
- Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas 37130-000, MG, Brazil;
| | - Nathalie Bourgougnon
- Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et Chimie Marines, LBCM, Université Bretagne Sud, EMR CNRS 6076, IUEM, 56000 Vannes, France;
| | - Laurent Picot
- Littoral Environnement et Societés (LIENSs), UMRi CNRS 7266, La Rochelle Université, 17042 La Rochelle, France; (L.A.M.d.S.D.F.); (M.P.Z.); (O.A.); (H.G.)
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3
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Aisenbrey C, Bechinger B. Multimerization of the heptad repeat regions of the SARS-CoV 2 spike protein. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. BIOMEMBRANES 2024; 1866:184259. [PMID: 38061554 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2023.184259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
The heptad repeat 1 and 2 (HR1, HR2) regions in the spike protein of SARS-CoV 2 play a key role in the fusogenic mechanism of the virus with the host cell. During the fusion process they are thought to rearrange into an interdomain multimer. Functional fragments of the heptad repeat 1 and 2 regions in the spike protein of SARS-CoV 2 were chemically synthesized, labeled with nitrofurazone (NBD) and their interactions investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. Steady state emission, fluorescence quenching, anisotropy and lifetime measurements in combination with a fluorophore dilution scheme were used to dissect multimer formation of HR1 and HR2 in quantitative detail. In addition, the investigation of the multimers by homo-FRET (via anisotropy) and lifetime measurements reveals new insights into the mechanism of fluorophore-fluorophore interactions in biological samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Aisenbrey
- University of Strasbourg/CNRS, UMR7177, Strasbourg Institute of Chemistry, Membrane Biophysics and NMR, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
| | - Burkhard Bechinger
- University of Strasbourg/CNRS, UMR7177, Strasbourg Institute of Chemistry, Membrane Biophysics and NMR, 67000 Strasbourg, France; Institut Universitaire de France, 75231 Paris, France
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4
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Nath A. Physicochemical and sequence determinants of antiviral peptides. Biol Futur 2023; 74:489-506. [PMID: 37889451 DOI: 10.1007/s42977-023-00188-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Antiviral peptides (AVPs) open new possibilities as an effective antiviral therapeutic in the current scenario of evolving drug-resistant viruses. Knowledge about the sequence and structure activity relationship in AVPs is still largely unknown. AVPs and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) share several common features but as they target different life forms (living organisms and viruses), exploring the differential sequence features may facilitate in designing specific AVPs. The current work developed accurate prediction models for discriminating (a) AVPs from AMPs, (b) Coronaviridae AVPs from other virus family specific AVPs and (c) highly active AVPs (HAA) from lowly active AVPs (LAA). Further explainable machine learning methods (using model agnostic global interpretable methods) are utilized for exploring and interpreting the physicochemical spaces of AVPs, Coronaviridae AVPs and highly active AVPs. To further understand the association of physicochemical space distribution with pIC50 values, regression models were developed and analyzed using accumulated local effects and interaction strength analysis. An independent sample t-test is used to filter out the significant compositional differences between the smaller length HAA and longer length HAA groups. AVPs prefer lower charge/length ratio and basic residues in comparison with AMPs. Coronaviridae family-specific AVPs have lower propensities for basic amino acids, charge and preference for aspartic acid. Further there is prevalence for basic residues in lowly active AVPs as compared to highly active AVPs. Sequence order effects captured in terms of average amino acid pair distances proved to be more constructive in deciphering the sequences of AVPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhigyan Nath
- Department of Biochemistry, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Raipur, 492001, India.
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5
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Chen S, Liao Y, Zhao J, Bin Y, Zheng C. PACVP: Prediction of Anti-Coronavirus Peptides Using a Stacking Learning Strategy With Effective Feature Representation. IEEE/ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS 2023; 20:3106-3116. [PMID: 37022025 DOI: 10.1109/tcbb.2023.3238370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 and its variants, antiviral peptides with anti-coronavirus activity (ACVPs) represent a promising new drug candidate for the treatment of coronavirus infection. At present, several computational tools have been developed to identify ACVPs, but the overall prediction performance is still not enough to meet the actual therapeutic application. In this study, we constructed an efficient and reliable prediction model PACVP (Prediction of Anti-CoronaVirus Peptides) for identifying ACVPs based on effective feature representation and a two-layer stacking learning framework. In the first layer, we use nine feature encoding methods with different feature representation angles to characterize the rich sequence information and fuse them into a feature matrix. Secondly, data normalization and unbalanced data processing are carried out. Next, 12 baseline models are constructed by combining three feature selection methods and four machine learning classification algorithms. In the second layer, we input the optimal probability features into the logistic regression algorithm (LR) to train the final model PACVP. The experiments show that PACVP achieves favorable prediction performance on independent test dataset, with ACC of 0.9208 and AUC of 0.9465. We hope that PACVP will become a useful method for identifying, annotating and characterizing novel ACVPs.
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6
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Stincarelli MA, Quagliata M, Di Santo A, Pacini L, Fernandez FR, Arvia R, Rinaldi S, Papini AM, Rovero P, Giannecchini S. SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory activity of a short peptide derived from internal fusion peptide of S2 subunit of spike glycoprotein. Virus Res 2023; 334:199170. [PMID: 37422270 PMCID: PMC10384657 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2023.199170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has posed a great concern in human population. To fight coronavirus emergence, we have dissected the conserved amino acid region of the internal fusion peptide in the S2 subunit of Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 to design new inhibitory peptides. Among the 11 overlapping peptides (9-23-mer), PN19, a 19-mer peptide, exhibited a powerful inhibitory activity against different SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolate variants in absence of cytotoxicity. The PN19 inhibitory activity was found to be dependent on conservation of the central Phe and C-terminal Tyr residues in the peptide sequence. Circular dichroism spectra of the active peptide exhibited an alpha-helix propensity, confirmed by secondary structure prediction analysis. The PN19 inhibitory activity, exerted in the first step of virus infection, was reduced after peptide adsorption treatment with virus-cell substrate during fusion interaction. Additionally, PN19 inhibitory activity was reduced by adding S2 membrane-proximal region derived peptides. PN19 showed binding ability to the S2 membrane proximal region derived peptides, confirmed by molecular modelling, playing a role in the mechanism of action. Collectively, these results confirm that the internal fusion peptide region is a good candidate on which develop peptidomimetic anti SARS-CoV-2 antivirals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Alfreda Stincarelli
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 48, Florence 50134, Italy
| | - Michael Quagliata
- Interdepartmental Research Unit of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Andrea Di Santo
- Interdepartmental Research Unit of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of NeuroFarBa, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Pacini
- Interdepartmental Research Unit of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Feliciana Real Fernandez
- CNR - Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (CNR-ICCOM), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino I-50019, Italy
| | - Rosaria Arvia
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 48, Florence 50134, Italy
| | - Silvia Rinaldi
- CNR - Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (CNR-ICCOM), Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino I-50019, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Papini
- Interdepartmental Research Unit of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Paolo Rovero
- Interdepartmental Research Unit of Peptide and Protein Chemistry and Biology, Department of NeuroFarBa, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino 50019, Italy
| | - Simone Giannecchini
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 48, Florence 50134, Italy.
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7
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Bastos TSB, de Paula AGP, Dos Santos Luz RB, Garnique AMB, Belo MAA, Eto SF, Fernandes DC, Ferraris FK, de Pontes LG, França TT, Barcellos LJG, Veras FP, Bermejo P, Guidelli G, Maneira C, da Silveira Bezerra de Mello F, Teixeira G, Pereira GAG, Fernandes BHV, Sanches PRS, Braz HLB, Jorge RJB, Malafaia G, Cilli EM, Olivier DDS, do Amaral MS, Medeiros RJ, Condino-Neto A, Carvalho LR, Machado-Santelli GM, Charlie-Silva I, Galindo-Villegas J, Braga TT. A novel insight on SARS-CoV-2 S-derived fragments in the control of the host immunity. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8060. [PMID: 37198208 PMCID: PMC10191404 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29588-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite all efforts to combat the pandemic of COVID-19, we are still living with high numbers of infected persons, an overburdened health care system, and the lack of an effective and definitive treatment. Understanding the pathophysiology of the disease is crucial for the development of new technologies and therapies for the best clinical management of patients. Since the manipulation of the whole virus requires a structure with an adequate level of biosafety, the development of alternative technologies, such as the synthesis of peptides from viral proteins, is a possible solution to circumvent this problem. In addition, the use and validation of animal models is of extreme importance to screen new drugs and to compress the organism's response to the disease. Peptides derived from recombinant S protein from SARS-CoV-2 were synthesized and validated by in silico, in vitro and in vivo methodologies. Macrophages and neutrophils were challenged with the peptides and the production of inflammatory mediators and activation profile were evaluated. These peptides were also inoculated into the swim bladder of transgenic zebrafish larvae at 6 days post fertilization (dpf) to mimic the inflammatory process triggered by the virus, which was evaluated by confocal microscopy. In addition, toxicity and oxidative stress assays were also developed. In silico and molecular dynamics assays revealed that the peptides bind to the ACE2 receptor stably and interact with receptors and adhesion molecules, such as MHC and TCR, from humans and zebrafish. Macrophages stimulated with one of the peptides showed increased production of NO, TNF-α and CXCL2. Inoculation of the peptides in zebrafish larvae triggered an inflammatory process marked by macrophage recruitment and increased mortality, as well as histopathological changes, similarly to what is observed in individuals with COVID-19. The use of peptides is a valuable alternative for the study of host immune response in the context of COVID-19. The use of zebrafish as an animal model also proved to be appropriate and effective in evaluating the inflammatory process, comparable to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Anali M B Garnique
- Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Silas Fernandes Eto
- Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery (CENTD) Special Laboratory, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil
- Center of Innovation and Development, Laboratory of Development and Innovation, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Fausto Klabund Ferraris
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Leticia Gomes de Pontes
- Laboratory of Human Immunology, Department Immunology, Institute Biomedical Sciences, University São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Tábata Takahashi França
- Laboratory of Human Immunology, Department Immunology, Institute Biomedical Sciences, University São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Leonardo José Gil Barcellos
- Laboratory of Fish Physiology, Graduate Program of Bioexperimentation, University of Passo Fundo, Santa Maria, Brazil
- Graduate Program of Pharmacology, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
| | - Flavio P Veras
- Center of Research in Inflammatory Diseases, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pamela Bermejo
- Laboratório de Genômica e bioEnergia (LGE), Institute of Biology - Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Giovanna Guidelli
- Laboratório de Genômica e bioEnergia (LGE), Institute of Biology - Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Carla Maneira
- Laboratório de Genômica e bioEnergia (LGE), Institute of Biology - Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil
| | | | - Gleidson Teixeira
- Laboratório de Genômica e bioEnergia (LGE), Institute of Biology - Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil
| | | | - Bianca H Ventura Fernandes
- Laboratório de Controle Genético e Sanitário, Diretoria Técnica de Apoio ao Ensino e Pesquisa, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo R S Sanches
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Helyson Lucas Bezerra Braz
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Roberta Jeane Bezerra Jorge
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
| | - Guilherme Malafaia
- Biological Research Laboratory, Goiano Federal Institute, Urutai Campus, Urutaí, GO, Brazil
| | - Eduardo M Cilli
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Marcos Serrou do Amaral
- Institute of Physics, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, 79070-900, Brazil
| | - Renata J Medeiros
- Laboratory of Physiology, INCQS/Fiocruz Zebrafish Facility, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute for Quality Control in Health, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Antonio Condino-Neto
- Laboratory of Human Immunology, Department Immunology, Institute Biomedical Sciences, University São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luciani R Carvalho
- Laboratório de Controle Genético e Sanitário, Diretoria Técnica de Apoio ao Ensino e Pesquisa, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Glaucia M Machado-Santelli
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Institute of Biomedical Science, University of Sao Paulo, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ives Charlie-Silva
- Department of Pharmacology, University of São Paulo-ICB/USP, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Jorge Galindo-Villegas
- Department of Genomics, Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University, Bodø, Norway.
| | - Tárcio Teodoro Braga
- Department of Pathology, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil.
- Graduate Program in Biosciences and Biotechnology, Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fiocruz-Parana, Brazil.
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8
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Liu Y, Zhu Y, Sun X, Ma T, Lao X, Zheng H. DRAVP: A Comprehensive Database of Antiviral Peptides and Proteins. Viruses 2023; 15:v15040820. [PMID: 37112801 PMCID: PMC10141206 DOI: 10.3390/v15040820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Viruses with rapid replication and easy mutation can become resistant to antiviral drug treatment. With novel viral infections emerging, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, novel antiviral therapies are urgently needed. Antiviral proteins, such as interferon, have been used for treating chronic hepatitis C infections for decades. Natural-origin antimicrobial peptides, such as defensins, have also been identified as possessing antiviral activities, including direct antiviral effects and the ability to induce indirect immune responses to viruses. To promote the development of antiviral drugs, we constructed a data repository of antiviral peptides and proteins (DRAVP). The database provides general information, antiviral activity, structure information, physicochemical information, and literature information for peptides and proteins. Because most of the proteins and peptides lack experimentally determined structures, AlphaFold was used to predict each antiviral peptide's structure. A free website for users (http://dravp.cpu-bioinfor.org/, accessed on 30 August 2022) was constructed to facilitate data retrieval and sequence analysis. Additionally, all the data can be accessed from the web interface. The DRAVP database aims to be a useful resource for developing antiviral drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanchao Liu
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Youzhuo Zhu
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Xin Sun
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Tianyue Ma
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Xingzhen Lao
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Heng Zheng
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjiaxiang, Nanjing 210009, China
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9
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Wang H, Zhou Y, Xu S, Zhang B, Cernava T, Ma Z, Chen Y. Enhancement of herbicolin A production by integrated fermentation optimization and strain engineering in Pantoea agglomerans ZJU23. Microb Cell Fact 2023; 22:50. [PMID: 36915090 PMCID: PMC10012537 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-023-02051-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The lipopeptide herbicolin A (HA) secreted by the biocontrol agent Pantoea agglomerans ZJU23 is a promising antifungal drug to combat fungal pathogens by targeting lipid rafts, both in agricultural and clinical settings. Improvement of HA production would be of great significance in promoting its commercialization. This study aims to enhance the HA production in ZJU23 by combining fermentation optimization and strain engineering. RESULTS Based on the results in the single-factor experiments, corn steep liquor, temperature and initial pH were identified as the significant affecting factors by the Plackett-Burman design. The fermentation medium and conditions were further optimized using the Box-Behnken response surface method, and the HA production of the wild type strain ZJU23 was improved from ~ 87 mg/mL in King's B medium to ~ 211 mg/mL in HA induction (HAI) medium. A transposon library was constructed in ZJU23 to screen for mutants with higher HA production, and two transcriptional repressors for HA biosynthesis, LrhA and PurR, were identified. Disruption of the LrhA gene led to increased mRNA expression of HA biosynthetic genes, and subsequently improved about twofold HA production. Finally, the HA production reached ~ 471 mg/mL in the ΔLrhA mutant under optimized fermentation conditions, which is about 5.4 times higher than before (~ 87 mg/mL). The bacterial suspension of the ΔLrhA mutant fermented in HAI medium significantly enhanced its biocontrol efficacy against gray mold disease and Fusarium crown rot of wheat, showing equivalent control efficacies as the chemical fungicides used in this study. Furthermore, HA was effective against fungicide resistant Botrytis cinerea. Increased HA production substantially improved the control efficacy against gray mold disease caused by a pyrimethanil resistant strain. CONCLUSIONS This study reveals that the transcriptional repressor LrhA negatively regulates HA biosynthesis and the defined HAI medium is suitable for HA production. These findings provide an extended basis for large-scale production of HA and promote biofungicide development based on ZJU23 and HA in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongkai Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Department of Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yaqi Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Department of Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Sunde Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Department of Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Boyan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Department of Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tomislav Cernava
- Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
| | - Zhonghua Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Department of Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects, Department of Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
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10
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Jawdat DM, Aljarallah GS, Albakr MA, Alajlan RM, Almesfir RF, Alqubaibi NF, Albalawi MM, Alshehri AA, Aljohani SM. Diagnostic Efficacy of RealStar SARS-CoV-2 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) in Comparison to GeneXpert System for the Detection of COVID-19. Cureus 2023; 15:e35158. [PMID: 36949993 PMCID: PMC10028309 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.35158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and objective The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a major health concern due to the rapid transmission of the virus that causes it: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To address the growing demand on healthcare systems to control this pandemic, more effective diagnostic methods need to be applied. In this study, we aimed to compare the efficacy of RealStar® SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) versus the GeneXpert® system. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the central lab of King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data from all nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) (150,000) submitted for SARS-CoV-2 analysis from July 2020 to July 2021 were reviewed retrospectively. Furthermore, all NPS (n=384) that were analyzed on both the RealStar® SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR and GeneXpert® systems for confirmatory purposes were included in the study. Acute respiratory illness (ARI) screening forms of the selected samples were reviewed from the electronic database (BestCare system), and they were analyzed and compared at one point in time; therefore, a cross-sectional study was found to be the best suitable study design. Using the statistical analysis software, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was obtained to compare the sensitivity (Sn), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). The test was considered significant if the area under the curve (AUC) value was >0.5. Results The diagnostic performance of the RealStar® and GeneXpert® assays in detecting SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated using ROC curve analysis, which showed AUCs of 0.597 and 0.637, respectively. In addition, 35% of the total results fell into a substantial agreement of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.6626-0.8732). The majority of the NPS were reported negative by both RealStar® (246, 80.66%) and GeneXpert® (226, 74.10%). Most samples (210, 68.85%) were obtained from asymptomatic patients, scoring less than 4 (ARI <4) based on the ARI screening form. Conclusion Based on the AUC of ROC, there is no significant difference in the performance characteristics between the RealStar® RT-PCR and GeneXpert® in detecting COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dunia M Jawdat
- Cellular Therapy Services, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, SAU
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Gadah S Aljarallah
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Maha A Albakr
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Reema M Alajlan
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Reem F Almesfir
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Nada F Alqubaibi
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Maram M Albalawi
- Biostatistics, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Ali A Alshehri
- Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, SAU
| | - Sameera M Aljohani
- Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, SAU
- Infectious Diseases Research Department, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, SAU
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, SAU
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11
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Tang M, Zhang X, Huang Y, Cheng W, Qu J, Gui S, Li L, Li S. Peptide-based inhibitors hold great promise as the broad-spectrum agents against coronavirus. Front Microbiol 2023; 13:1093646. [PMID: 36741878 PMCID: PMC9893414 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1093646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and the recent SARS-CoV-2 are lethal coronaviruses (CoVs) that have caused dreadful epidemic or pandemic in a large region or globally. Infections of human respiratory systems and other important organs by these pathogenic viruses often results in high rates of morbidity and mortality. Efficient anti-viral drugs are needed. Herein, we firstly take SARS-CoV-2 as an example to present the molecular mechanism of CoV infection cycle, including the receptor binding, viral entry, intracellular replication, virion assembly, and release. Then according to their mode of action, we provide a summary of anti-viral peptides that have been reported in peer-reviewed publications. Even though CoVs can rapidly evolve to gain resistance to the conventional small molecule drugs, peptide-based inhibitors targeting various steps of CoV lifecycle remain a promising approach. Peptides can be continuously modified to improve their antiviral efficacy and spectrum along with the emergence of new viral variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingxing Tang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China,Department of Otolaryngology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China,School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Xin Zhang
- School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yanhong Huang
- Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China,School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wenxiang Cheng
- Center for Translational Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jing Qu
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen, China
| | - Shuiqing Gui
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China,*Correspondence: Shuiqing Gui, ✉
| | - Liang Li
- School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China,Liang Li, ✉
| | - Shuo Li
- Department of Otolaryngology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China,Shuo Li, ✉
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12
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Khater I, Nassar A. Potential antiviral peptides targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. BMC Pharmacol Toxicol 2022; 23:91. [PMID: 36461109 PMCID: PMC9716172 DOI: 10.1186/s40360-022-00627-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection became an international pandemic and created a public health crisis. The binding of the viral Spike glycoprotein to the human cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) initiates viral infection. The development of efficient treatments to combat coronavirus disease is considered essential. METHODS An in silico approach was employed to design amino acid peptide inhibitor against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The designed inhibitor (SARS-CoV-2 PEP 49) consists of amino acids with the α1 helix and the β4 - β5 sheets of ACE2. The PEP-FOLD3 web tool was used to create the 3D structures of the peptide amino acids. Analyzing the interaction between ACE2 and the RBD of the Spike protein for three protein data bank entries (6M0J, 7C8D, and 7A95) indicated that the interacting amino acids were contained inside two regions of ACE2: the α1 helical protease domain (PD) and the β4 - β5 sheets. RESULTS Molecular docking analysis of the designed inhibitor demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 PEP 49 attaches directly to the ACE2 binding site of the Spike protein with a binding affinity greater than the ACE2, implying that the SARS-CoV-2 PEP 49 model may be useful as a potential RBD binding blocker.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ibrahim Khater
- grid.7776.10000 0004 0639 9286Biophysics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Aaya Nassar
- grid.7776.10000 0004 0639 9286Biophysics Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt ,grid.253615.60000 0004 1936 9510Department of Clinical Research and Leadership, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
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13
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BIOPEP-UWM Virtual—A Novel Database of Food-Derived Peptides with In Silico-Predicted Biological Activity. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/app12147204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The novel BIOPEP-UWM Virtual database is designed as a repository of peptide sequences whose bioactivity or taste information was the result of in silico predictions. It is a tool complementary to the existing BIOPEP-UWM database summarizing the results of experimental data on bioactive peptides. The layout and organization of the new database are identical to those of the existing BIOPEP-UWM database of bioactive peptides. The peptide data record includes the following information: name; sequence and function information (understood as information about the predicted target biomacromolecule); bibliographic data with the reference paper describing the peptide; additional information, including the peptide structure, annotated using chemical codes as well as the specification of the method used for bioactivity prediction; information about other activities discovered experimentally or predicted using computational methods; peptide taste (if available); and a database reference tab providing information about compound annotations in other databases (if available).
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14
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A database of anti-coronavirus peptides. Sci Data 2022; 9:294. [PMID: 35697698 PMCID: PMC9192597 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01394-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Since 2019, the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) disease (COVID-19) has caused a worldwide epidemic. Anti-coronavirus peptides (ACovPs), a type of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), have demonstrated excellent inhibitory effects on coronaviruses. However, state-of-the-art AMP databases contain only a small number of ACovPs. Additionally, the fields of these databases are not uniform, and the units or evaluation standards of the same field are inconsistent. Most of these databases have not included the target domains of ACovPs and description of in vitro and in vivo assays to measure the inhibitory effects of ACovPs. Here, we present a database focused on ACovPs (ACovPepDB), which contains comprehensive and precise ACovPs information of 518 entries with 214 unique ACovPs manually collected from public databases and published peer-reviewed articles. We believe that ACovPepDB is of great significance for facilitating the development of new peptides and improving treatment for coronavirus infection. The database will become a portal for ACovPs and guide and help researchers perform further studies. The ACovPepDB is available at http://i.uestc.edu.cn/ACovPepDB/. Measurement(s) | Inhibition effect of anti-coronavirus peptide | Technology Type(s) | Antiviral assay |
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15
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Parra ALC, Bezerra LP, Shawar DE, Neto NAS, Mesquita FP, da Silva GO, Souza PFN. Synthetic antiviral peptides: a new way to develop targeted antiviral drugs. Future Virol 2022. [DOI: 10.2217/fvl-2021-0308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The global concern over emerging and re-emerging viral infections has spurred the search for novel antiviral agents. Peptides with antiviral activity stand out, by overcoming limitations of the current drugs utilized, due to their biocompatibility, specificity and effectiveness. Synthetic peptides have been shown to be viable alternatives to natural peptides due to several difficulties of using of the latter in clinical trials. Various platforms have been utilized by researchers to predict the most effective peptide sequences against HIV, influenza, dengue, MERS and SARS. Synthetic peptides are already employed in the treatment of HIV infection. The novelty of this study is to discuss, for the first time, the potential of synthetic peptides as antiviral molecules. We conclude that synthetic peptides can act as new weapons against viral threats to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aura LC Parra
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, 60440-554, Brazil
| | - Leandro P Bezerra
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, 60440-554, Brazil
| | - Dur E Shawar
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, 60440-554, Brazil
| | - Nilton AS Neto
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, 60440-554, Brazil
| | - Felipe P Mesquita
- Drug Research & Development Center (NPDM), Federal University of Ceará, Cel. Nunes de Melo, Rodolfo Teófilo, 1000, Fortaleza, Brazil
| | - Gabrielly O da Silva
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, 60440-554, Brazil
| | - Pedro FN Souza
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara, 60440-554, Brazil
- Drug Research & Development Center (NPDM), Federal University of Ceará, Cel. Nunes de Melo, Rodolfo Teófilo, 1000, Fortaleza, Brazil
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16
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Rational Discovery of Antiviral Whey Protein-Derived Small Peptides Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10051067. [PMID: 35625804 PMCID: PMC9139167 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10051067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Revised: 04/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present work, and for the first time, three whey protein-derived peptides (IAEK, IPAVF, MHI), endowed with ACE inhibitory activity, were examined for their antiviral activity against the SARS-CoV-2 3C-like protease (3CLpro) and Human Rhinovirus 3C protease (3Cpro) by employing molecular docking. Computational studies showed reliable binding poses within 3CLpro for the three investigated small peptides, considering docking scores as well as the binding free energy values. Validation by in vitro experiments confirmed these results. In particular, IPAVF exhibited the highest inhibitory activity by returning an IC50 equal to 1.21 μM; it was followed by IAEK, which registered an IC50 of 154.40 μM, whereas MHI was less active with an IC50 equal to 2700.62 μM. On the other hand, none of the assayed peptides registered inhibitory activity against 3Cpro. Based on these results, the herein presented small peptides are introduced as promising molecules to be exploited in the development of “target-specific antiviral” agents against SARS-CoV-2.
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17
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Sukmarini L. Antiviral Peptides (AVPs) of Marine Origin as Propitious Therapeutic Drug Candidates for the Treatment of Human Viruses. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27092619. [PMID: 35565968 PMCID: PMC9101517 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27092619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The marine environment presents a favorable avenue for potential therapeutic agents as a reservoir of new bioactive natural products. Due to their numerous potential pharmacological effects, marine-derived natural products—particularly marine peptides—have gained considerable attention. These peptides have shown a broad spectrum of biological functions, such as antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, and analgesic effects. The emergence of new virus strains and viral resistance leads to continuing efforts to develop more effective antiviral drugs. Interestingly, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that possess antiviral properties and are alternatively regarded as antiviral peptides (AVPs) demonstrate vast potential as alternative peptide-based drug candidates available for viral infection treatments. Hence, AVPs obtained from various marine organisms have been evaluated. This brief review features recent updates of marine-derived AVPs from 2011 to 2021. Moreover, the biosynthesis of this class of compounds and their possible mechanisms of action are also discussed. Selected peptides from various marine organisms possessing antiviral activities against important human viruses—such as human immunodeficiency viruses, herpes simplex viruses, influenza viruses, hepatitis C virus, and coronaviruses—are highlighted herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda Sukmarini
- Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jl. Raya Bogor Km. 46, Cibinong 16911, West Java, Indonesia
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18
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Two Different Therapeutic Approaches for SARS-CoV-2 in hiPSCs-Derived Lung Organoids. Cells 2022; 11:cells11071235. [PMID: 35406799 PMCID: PMC8997767 DOI: 10.3390/cells11071235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The global health emergency for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) created an urgent need to develop new treatments and therapeutic drugs. In this study, we tested, for the first time on human cells, a new tetravalent neutralizing antibody (15033-7) targeting Spike protein and a synthetic peptide homologous to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) receptor on host cells. Both could represent powerful immunotherapeutic candidates for COVID-19 treatment. The infection begins in the proximal airways, namely the alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells of the distal lung, which express both ACE2 and DPP4 receptors. Thus, to evaluate the efficacy of both approaches, we developed three-dimensional (3D) complex lung organoid structures (hLORGs) derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and resembling the in vivo organ. Afterward, hLORGs were infected by different SARS-CoV-2 S pseudovirus variants and treated by the Ab15033-7 or DPP4 peptide. Using both approaches, we observed a significant reduction of viral entry and a modulation of the expression of genes implicated in innate immunity and inflammatory response. These data demonstrate the efficacy of such approaches in strongly reducing the infection efficiency in vitro and, importantly, provide proof-of-principle evidence that hiPSC-derived hLORGs represent an ideal in vitro system for testing both therapeutic and preventive modalities against COVID-19.
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19
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Rani P, Kapoor B, Gulati M, Atanasov AG, Alzahrani Q, Gupta R. Antimicrobial peptides: A plausible approach for COVID-19 treatment. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2022; 17:473-487. [PMID: 35255763 PMCID: PMC8935455 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2022.2050693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which emerged as a major public health threat, has affected >400 million people globally leading to >5 million mortalities to date. Treatments of COVID-19 are still to be developed as the available therapeutic approaches are not able to combat the virus causing the disease (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; SARS-CoV-2) satisfactorily. However, antiviral peptides (AVPs) have demonstrated prophylactic and therapeutic effects against many coronaviruses (CoVs). AREAS COVERED This review critically discusses various types of AVPs evaluated for the treatment of COVID-19 along with their mechanisms of action. Furthermore, the peptides inhibiting the entry of the virus by targeting its binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or integrins, fusion mechanism as well as activation of proteolytic enzymes (cathepsin L, transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2), or furin) are also discussed. EXPERT OPINION Although extensively investigated, successful treatment of COVID-19 is still a challenge due to emergence of virus mutants. Antiviral peptides are anticipated to be blockbuster drugs for the management of this serious infection because of their formulation and therapeutic advantages. Although they may act on different pathways, AVPs having a multi-targeted approach are considered to have the upper hand in the management of this infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pooja Rani
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
| | - Bhupinder Kapoor
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
| | - Monica Gulati
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
| | - Atanas G Atanasov
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Patient Safety, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Magdalenka, Poland.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Qushmua Alzahrani
- Department of Pharmacy/Nursing/Medicine Health and Environment, University of the Region of Joinville (UNIVILLE) volunteer researcher, Joinville, Brazil
| | - Reena Gupta
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India
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20
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Moradi M, Golmohammadi R, Najafi A, Moosazadeh Moghaddam M, Fasihi-Ramandi M, Mirnejad R. A contemporary review on the important role of in silico approaches for managing different aspects of COVID-19 crisis. INFORMATICS IN MEDICINE UNLOCKED 2022; 28:100862. [PMID: 35079621 PMCID: PMC8776350 DOI: 10.1016/j.imu.2022.100862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In the last century, the emergence of in silico tools has improved the quality of healthcare studies by providing high quality predictions. In the case of COVID-19, these tools have been advantageous for bioinformatics analysis of SARS-CoV-2 structures, studying potential drugs and introducing drug targets, investigating the efficacy of potential natural product components at suppressing COVID-19 infection, designing peptide-mimetic and optimizing their structure to provide a better clinical outcome, and repurposing of the previously known therapeutics. These methods have also helped medical biotechnologists to design various vaccines; such as multi-epitope vaccines using reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatics methods, among which some of them have showed promising results through in vitro, in vivo and clinical trial studies. Moreover, emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms have helped to classify the previously known data and use them to provide precise predictions and make plan for future of the pandemic condition. At this contemporary review, by collecting related information from the collected literature on valuable data sources; such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, we tried to provide a brief outlook regarding the importance of in silico tools in managing different aspects of COVID-19 pandemic infection and how these methods have been helpful to biomedical researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Moradi
- Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Reza Golmohammadi
- Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases (BRCGL), Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ali Najafi
- Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Mahdi Fasihi-Ramandi
- Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Mirnejad
- Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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21
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Zhao W, Li X, Yu Z, Wu S, Ding L, Liu J. Identification of lactoferrin-derived peptides as potential inhibitors against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. Lebensm Wiss Technol 2022; 154:112684. [PMID: 34720187 PMCID: PMC8537974 DOI: 10.1016/j.lwt.2021.112684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Revised: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
COVID-19 is a global health emergency that causes serious concerns. A global effort is underway to identify drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. One possible solution to the present problem is to develop drugs that can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), a coronavirus protein that been considered as one among many drug targets. In this work, lactoferrin from Bos taurus L. was in silico hydrolyzed. The bioactivity, water solubility, and ADMET properties of the generated peptides were predicted using various online tools. The molecular interactions between Mpro and the peptides were studied using molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation. The results demonstrated that peptide GSRY was predicted to have better physicochemical properties, and the value of '-C DOCKER interaction energy' between peptide GSRY and Mpro was 80.8505 kcal/mol. The interaction between the peptide GSRY and the native ligand N3 co-crystallized with Mpro had overlapped amino acids, i.e., HIS163, GlY143, GLU166, GLN189 and MET165. Molecular dynamic simulation revealed that Mpro/GSRY complexes were stable. Collectively, the peptide GSRY may be a potential candidate drug against Mpro of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenzhu Zhao
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Bohai University, Jinzhou, 121013, PR China
| | - Xin Li
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Bohai University, Jinzhou, 121013, PR China
- National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou, 121013, PR China
| | - Zhipeng Yu
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Bohai University, Jinzhou, 121013, PR China
- National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Storage, Processing and Safety Control Technology for Fresh Agricultural and Aquatic Products, Bohai University, Jinzhou, 121013, PR China
| | - Sijia Wu
- Lab of Nutrition and Functional Food, Jilin University, Changchun, 130062, PR China
| | - Long Ding
- College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, PR China
| | - Jingbo Liu
- Lab of Nutrition and Functional Food, Jilin University, Changchun, 130062, PR China
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22
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Essa RZ, Wu YS, Batumalaie K, Sekar M, Poh CL. Antiviral peptides against SARS-CoV-2: therapeutic targets, mechanistic antiviral activity, and efficient delivery. Pharmacol Rep 2022; 74:1166-1181. [PMID: 36401119 PMCID: PMC9676828 DOI: 10.1007/s43440-022-00432-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The global pandemic of COVID-19 is a serious public health concern. Over 625 million confirmed cases and more than 6 million deaths have been recorded worldwide. Although several vaccines and antiviral medications have been developed, their efficacy is limited by the emerging new SARS-CoV-2 strains. Peptide-based therapeutics is a fast-growing class of new drugs and have unique advantages over large proteins and small molecules. Antiviral peptides (AVPs) are short polycationic antivirals with broad-spectrum effects, which have been shown to exert both prophylactic and therapeutic actions against reported coronaviruses. The potential therapeutic targets of AVPs are located either on the virus (e.g., E-protein and S-protein) to prohibit viral binding or host cells, particularly, those present on the cell surface (e.g., ACE2 and TMPRSS2). Despite AVPs having promising antiviral effects, their efficacy is limited by low bioavailability. Thus, nanoformulation is a prerequisite for prolonged bioavailability and efficient delivery. This review aimed to present an insight into the therapeutic AVP targets on both virus and host cells by discussing their antiviral activities and associated molecular mechanisms. Besides, it described the technique for discovering and developing possible AVPs based on their targets, as well as the significance of using nanotechnology for their efficient delivery against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raahilah Zahir Essa
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Yuan-seng Wu
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia ,Department of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Kalaivani Batumalaie
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Asia Metropolitan University, 81750 Johor, Malaysia
| | - Mahendran Sekar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Royal College of Medicine Perak, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, 30450 Ipoh, Perak Malaysia
| | - Chit-laa Poh
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia
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23
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Han S, Zhao G, Wei Z, Chen Y, Zhao J, He Y, He YJ, Gao J, Chen S, Du C, Wang T, Sun W, Huang Y, Wang C, Wang J. An angiotensin-converting enzyme-2-derived heptapeptide GK-7 for SARS-CoV-2 spike blockade. Peptides 2021; 145:170638. [PMID: 34419496 PMCID: PMC8375220 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2021.170638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Revised: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a global concern and necessitates efficient drug antagonists. Angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) is the main receptor of SARS-CoV-2 spike 1 (S1), which mediates viral invasion into host cells. Herein, we designed and prepared short peptide inhibitors containing 4-6 critical residues of ACE2 that contribute to the interaction with SARS-CoV-2 S1. Among the candidates, a peptide termed GK-7 (GKGDFRI), which was designed by extracting residues ranging from Gly353 to Ile359 in the ligand-binding domain of ACE2, exhibited the highest binding affinity (25.1 nM) with the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain (RBD). GK-7 bound to the RBD and decreased SARS-CoV-2 S1 attachment to A549 human alveolar epithelial cells. Owing to spike blockade, GK-7 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirion infection in a dose-dependent manner, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 2.96 μg/mL. Inspiringly, pulmonary delivery of GK-7 by intranasal administration did not result in toxicity in mice. This study revealed an easy-to-produce peptide inhibitor for SARS-CoV-2 spike blockade, thus providing a promising candidate for COVID-19 treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songling Han
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Gaomei Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Zhuanzhuan Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Yin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Jianqi Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Yongwu He
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Ying-Juan He
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Jining Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Shilei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Changhong Du
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Tao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Wei Sun
- Biomedical Analysis Center, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Yi Huang
- Biomedical Analysis Center, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China
| | - Cheng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
| | - Junping Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Institute of Combined Injury of PLA, Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
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24
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Raihan T, Rabbee MF, Roy P, Choudhury S, Baek KH, Azad AK. Microbial Metabolites: The Emerging Hotspot of Antiviral Compounds as Potential Candidates to Avert Viral Pandemic Alike COVID-19. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:732256. [PMID: 34557521 PMCID: PMC8452873 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.732256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The present global COVID-19 pandemic caused by the noble pleomorphic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has created a vulnerable situation in the global healthcare and economy. In this pandemic situation, researchers all around the world are trying their level best to find suitable therapeutics from various sources to combat against the SARS-CoV-2. To date, numerous bioactive compounds from different sources have been tested to control many viral diseases. However, microbial metabolites are advantageous for drug development over metabolites from other sources. We herein retrieved and reviewed literatures from PubMed, Scopus and Google relevant to antiviral microbial metabolites by searching with the keywords "antiviral microbial metabolites," "microbial metabolite against virus," "microorganism with antiviral activity," "antiviral medicine from microbial metabolite," "antiviral bacterial metabolites," "antiviral fungal metabolites," "antiviral metabolites from microscopic algae' and so on. For the same purpose, the keywords "microbial metabolites against COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2" and "plant metabolites against COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2" were used. Only the full text literatures available in English and pertinent to the topic have been included and those which are not available as full text in English and pertinent to antiviral or anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity were excluded. In this review, we have accumulated microbial metabolites that can be used as antiviral agents against a broad range of viruses including SARS-CoV-2. Based on this concept, we have included 330 antiviral microbial metabolites so far available to date in the data bases and were previously isolated from fungi, bacteria and microalgae. The microbial source, chemical nature, targeted viruses, mechanism of actions and IC50/EC50 values of these metabolites are discussed although mechanisms of actions of many of them are not yet elucidated. Among these antiviral microbial metabolites, some compounds might be very potential against many other viruses including coronaviruses. However, these potential microbial metabolites need further research to be developed as effective antiviral drugs. This paper may provide the scientific community with the possible secret of microbial metabolites that could be an effective source of novel antiviral drugs to fight against many viruses including SARS-CoV-2 as well as the future viral pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Topu Raihan
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
| | | | - Puja Roy
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
| | - Swapnila Choudhury
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Kwang-Hyun Baek
- Department of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea
| | - Abul Kalam Azad
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
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25
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Peptide Platform as a Powerful Tool in the Fight against COVID-19. Viruses 2021; 13:v13081667. [PMID: 34452531 PMCID: PMC8402770 DOI: 10.3390/v13081667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in a global pandemic causing over 195 million infections and more than 4 million fatalities as of July 2021.To date, it has been demonstrated that a number of mutations in the spike glycoprotein (S protein) of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern abrogate or reduce the neutralization potency of several therapeutic antibodies and vaccine-elicited antibodies. Therefore, the development of additional vaccine platforms with improved supply and logistic profile remains a pressing need. In this work, we have validated the applicability of a peptide-based strategy focused on a preventive as well as a therapeutic purpose. On the basis of the involvement of the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), in addition to the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor in the mechanism of virus entry, we analyzed peptides bearing DPP4 sequences by protein-protein docking and assessed their ability to block pseudovirus infection in vitro. In parallel, we have selected and synthetized peptide sequences located within the highly conserved receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the S protein, and we found that RBD-based vaccines could better promote elicitation of high titers of neutralizing antibodies specific against the regions of interest, as confirmed by immunoinformatic methodologies and in vivo studies. These findings unveil a key antigenic site targeted by broadly neutralizing antibodies and pave the way to the design of pan-coronavirus vaccines.
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26
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Mammari N, Krier Y, Albert Q, Devocelle M, Varbanov M. Plant-Derived Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Antiviral Agents in Systemic Viral Infections. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:ph14080774. [PMID: 34451871 PMCID: PMC8400714 DOI: 10.3390/ph14080774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous studies have led to a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of viruses in systemic infections for the development of prevention strategies and very promising antiviral therapies. Viruses still remain one of the main causes of human diseases, mainly because the development of new vaccines is usually challenging and drug resistance has become an increasing concern in recent decades. Therefore, the development of potential antiviral agents remains crucial and is an unmet clinical need. One abundant source of potential therapeutic molecules are plants: they biosynthesize a myriad of compounds, including peptides which can have antimicrobial activity. Our objective is to summarize the literature on peptides with antiviral properties derived from plants and to identify key features of these peptides and their application in systemic viral infections. This literature review highlights studies including clinical trials which demonstrated that plant cyclotides have the ability to inhibit the growth of viruses causing human diseases, defensin-like peptides possess anti-HIV-1 activity, and lipid transfer proteins and some lectins exhibit a varied antimicrobial profile. To conclude, plant peptides remain interesting to explore in the context of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nour Mammari
- L2CM, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, F-54000 Nancy, France;
| | - Ysaline Krier
- Faculté de Pharmacie, 7 Avenue de la Foret de Haye, 54505 Vandoeuvre-Les-Nancy, France;
| | - Quentin Albert
- Fungal Biodiversity and Biotechnology, INRAE/Aix-Marseille University, UMR1163, 13009 Marseille, France;
- CIRM-CF, INRAE/Aix Marseille University, UMR1163, 13009 Marseille, France
| | - Marc Devocelle
- SSPC (SFI Research Centre for Pharmaceuticals), V94T9PX Limerick, Ireland;
- Department of Chemistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, 123, St. Stephen’s Green, D02 YN77 Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Mihayl Varbanov
- L2CM, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, F-54000 Nancy, France;
- Correspondence:
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27
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Khateeb J, Li Y, Zhang H. Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and potential intervention approaches. Crit Care 2021; 25:244. [PMID: 34253247 PMCID: PMC8274962 DOI: 10.1186/s13054-021-03662-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The major variant of concerns (VOCs) have shared mutations in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike proteins, mostly on the S1 unit and resulted in higher transmissibility rate and affect viral virulence and clinical outcome. The spike protein mutations and other non-structural protein mutations in the VOCs may lead to escape approved vaccinations in certain extend. We will discuss these VOC mutations and discuss the need for combination therapeutic strategies targeting viral cycle and immune host responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasmin Khateeb
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Room 619, LKSKI, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B1W8, Canada
- Department of Internal Medicine D, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
| | - Yuchong Li
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Room 619, LKSKI, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B1W8, Canada
- The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Haibo Zhang
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Room 619, LKSKI, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B1W8, Canada.
- The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
- Departments of Anaesthesia and Physiology, Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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