ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unprecedented in human history. As a major structural protein, nucleocapsid protein (NPro) is critical to the replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this work, 17 NPro-targeting phenanthridine derivatives were rationally designed and synthesized, based on the crystal structure of NPro. Most of these compounds can interact with SARS-CoV-2 NPro tightly and inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Compounds 12 and 16 exhibited the most potent anti-viral activities with 50% effective concentration values of 3.69 and 2.18 µM, respectively. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis of NPro and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) assays revealed that 12 and 16 target N-terminal domain (NTD) of NPro by binding to Tyr109. This work found two potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 bioactive compounds and also indicated that SARS-CoV-2 NPro-NTD can be a target for new anti-virus agents.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Phenanthridines/chemistry , SARS-CoV-2/metabolism , Animals , Antiviral Agents/metabolism , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Binding Sites , COVID-19/virology , Cell Survival/drug effects , Chlorocebus aethiops , Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins/metabolism , Drug Design , Humans , Kinetics , Molecular Docking Simulation , Phenanthridines/metabolism , Phenanthridines/pharmacology , Phenanthridines/therapeutic use , Phosphoproteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Phosphoproteins/metabolism , Protein Binding , Protein Structure, Tertiary , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Vero Cells , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a worldwide pandemic diseases, nearly 400,000 people died at now. The data of status of pregnant women and neonates after infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) is limited. We report a case of pregnant woman in her third trimester with critical COVID-19, and amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, placenta, and neonatal gastric fluid were retained during cesarean section. The SARS-COV-2 nucleic acid test results of these specimens were negative. There is no evidence of intrauterine vertical transmission during delivery in the third trimester, but the data are limited and need to be further explored.