Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 on Salt-Coated Surfaces: An In Vitro Study (preprint)

In the Covid-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), face masks have become a very important safety measure against the main route of transmission of the virus: droplets and aerosols. Concerns that masks contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 infectious particles could be a risk for self-contamination have emerged early in the pandemic as well as solutions to mitigate this risk. The coating of masks with sodium chloride, an anti-viral and non-hazardous to health chemical, could be an option for reusable masks. To assess the antiviral properties of salt coatings deposited onto common fabrics by spraying and dipping, the present study established an in vitro bioassay using three-dimensional airway epithelial cell cultures and SARS-CoV-2 virus. Virus particles were given directly on salt-coated material, collected, and added to the cell cultures. Infectious virus particles were measured by plaque forming unit assay and in parallel viral genome copies were quantified over time. Relative to noncoated material, the sodium chloride coating significantly reduced virus replication, confirming the effectiveness of the method to prevent fomite contamination with SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the lung epithelia bioassay proved to be suitable for future evaluation of novel antiviral coatings.

The COVID-19 PHARMACOME: Rational Selection of Drug Repurposing Candidates from Multimodal Knowledge Harmonization (preprint)

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has challenged researchers at a global scale. The scientific community's massive response has resulted in a flood of experiments, analyses, hypotheses, and publications, especially in the field drug repurposing. However, many of the proposed therapeutic compounds obtained from SARS-CoV-2 specific assays are not in agreement and thus demonstrate the need for a singular source of COVID-19 related information from which a rational selection of drug repurposing candidates can be made. In this paper, we present the COVID-19 PHARMACOME, a comprehensive drug-target-mechanism graph generated from a compilation of several disease maps and experimental data focused on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 pathophysiology. By applying a systematic approach, we were able to predict the effect of drug pairs on SARS-CoV-2 infection. Experimental validation of our results demonstrate that our graph can be used to not only explore the involved mechanistic pathways, but also to identify novel combinations of drug repurposing candidates.