Hasan A, Jannat K, Bondhon TA, Jahan R, Hossan MS, de Lourdes Pereira M, Nissapatorn V, Wiart C, Rahmatullah M. Can Antimalarial Phytochemicals be a Possible Cure for COVID-19? Molecular Docking Studies of Some Phytochemicals to SARS-CoV-2 3C-like Protease.
Infect Disord Drug Targets 2021;
22:e290721195143. [PMID:
34376138 DOI:
10.2174/1871526521666210729164054]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2020] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of reported anti-malarial phytochemicals as lead compounds for possible drug development against COVID-19.
METHODS
An in silico approach was used in this study to determine through molecular docking the binding affinities and site of binding of these phytochemicals to the 3C-like protease of COVID-19 which is considered as the main protease of the virus.
RESULTS
A number of anti-malarial phytochemicals like apigenin-7-O-glucoside, decurvisine, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, sargabolide J, and shizukaols A, B, F, and G showed predicted high binding energies with G values of -8.0 kcal/mol or higher. Shizukaols F and B demonstrated the best binding energies of -9.5 and -9.8, respectively. The acridone alkaloid 5-hydroxynoracronycine also gave a predicted high binding energy of -7.9 kcal/mol.
CONCLUSION
This is for the first time that decursivine and several shizukaols were reported as potential anti-viral agents. These compounds merit further studies to determine whether they can be effective drug candidates against COVID-19.
Collapse