ABSTRACT
The pandemic infectious disease (Covid-19) caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) is spreading rapidly around the world. Covid-19 does an irreparable harm to the health and life of people. It also has a negative financial impact on the economies of most countries of the world. In this regard, the issue of creating drugs aimed at combating this disease is especially acute. In this work, molecular docking was used to study the docking of 23 compounds with QRF3a SARS-CoV2. The performed in silico modeling made it possible to identify leading compounds capable of exerting a potential inhibitory and virucidal effect. The leading compounds include chlorin (a drug used in PDT), iron(III)protoporphyrin (endogenous porphyrin), and tetraanthraquinone porphyrazine (an exogenous substance). Having taken into consideration the localization of ligands in the QRF3a SARS-CoV2, we have made an assumption about their influence on the pathogenesis of Covid-19. The interaction of chlorin, iron(III)protoporphyrin and protoporphyrin with the viral protein ORF3a were studied by fluorescence and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The obtained experimental results confirm the data of molecular docking. The results showed that a viral protein binds to endogenous porphyrins and chlorins, moreover, chlorin is a competitive ligand for endogenous porphyrins. Chlorin should be considered as a promising drug for repurposing.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/metabolism , Heterocyclic Compounds/chemistry , Macrocyclic Compounds/chemistry , Macrocyclic Compounds/metabolism , Viroporin Proteins/chemistry , Viroporin Proteins/metabolism , Binding Sites , Drug Repositioning , Heterocyclic Compounds/metabolism , Ligands , Molecular Docking Simulation , Porphyrins/chemistry , Porphyrins/metabolism , Protoporphyrins/chemistry , Protoporphyrins/metabolism , SARS-CoV-2/drug effects , Viroporin Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
In this work, we analyze the latest data on the molecular docking of a range of SARS-CoV-2 proteins to protoporphyrin IX, verteporfin, and chlorin e6, as well as consider the prospects for using chlorins and porphyrins as agents for photoinactivation of the SARS2 virus.