ABSTRACT
Pathogenesis of COVID-19 by SARS-CoV-2 resulted in a global pandemic and public health emergency in 2020. Viral infection can induce oxidative stress through reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inflammation and environmental stress are major sources of oxidative stress after infection. Micronutrients such as iron, copper, zinc, and manganese play various roles in human tissues and their imbalance in blood can impact immune responses against pathogens including SARS CoV-2. We hypothesized that alteration of free metal ions during infection and metal-catalyzed oxidation plays a critical role towards pathogenesis after infection. We analyzed convalescent and hospitalized COVID-19 patient plasma using orthogonal analytical techniques to determine redox active metal concentrations, overall protein oxidation, oxidative modifications, and protein levels via proteomics to understand the consequences of metal-induced oxidative stress in COVID-19 plasma proteins. Metal analysis using ICP-MS showed significantly greater concentrations of copper in COVID-19 plasma compared to healthy controls. We demonstrate significantly greater total protein carbonylation, other oxidative modifications, and deamidation of plasma proteins in COVID-19 plasma compared to healthy controls. Proteomics analysis showed that levels of redox active proteins including hemoglobulin were elevated in COVID-19 plasma. Molecular modeling concurred with potential interactions between iron binding proteins and SARS CoV-2 surface proteins. Overall, increased levels of redox active metals and protein oxidation indicate that oxidative stress-induced protein oxidation in COVID-19 may be a consequence of the interactions of SARS-CoV-2 proteins with host cell metal binding proteins resulting in altered cellular homeostasis.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , SARS-CoV-2/metabolism , Copper , Oxidative Stress , Metals/metabolism , Oxidation-ReductionABSTRACT
The medical and scientific literature is dominated by highly cited historical theories and findings [...].
Subject(s)
Iron/metabolism , Metals/metabolism , Therapeutics/trends , Chelation Therapy , Disease/classification , Disease/etiology , Drug Therapy/trends , Humans , Iron Chelating Agents/therapeutic use , Iron Deficiencies/drug therapy , Iron Overload/drug therapy , Therapeutics/methodsABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 currently lacks effective first-line drug treatment. We present promising data from in silico docking studies of new Methisazone compounds (modified with calcium, Ca; iron, Fe; magnesium, Mg; manganese, Mn; or zinc, Zn) designed to bind more strongly to key proteins involved in replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this in silico molecular docking study, we investigated the inhibiting role of Methisazone and the modified drugs against SARS-CoV-2 proteins: ribonucleic acid (RNA)-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), spike protein, papain-like protease (PlPr), and main protease (MPro). We found that the highest binding interactions were found with the spike protein (6VYB), with the highest overall binding being observed with Mn-bound Methisazone at -8.3 kcal/mol, followed by Zn and Ca at -8.0 kcal/mol, and Fe and Mg at -7.9 kcal/mol. We also found that the metal-modified Methisazone had higher affinity for PlPr and MPro. In addition, we identified multiple binding pockets that could be singly or multiply occupied on all proteins tested. The best binding energy was with Mn-Methisazone versus spike protein, and the largest cumulative increases in binding energies were found with PlPr. We suggest that further studies are warranted to identify whether these compounds may be effective for treatment and/or prophylaxis.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Metals/chemistry , Methisazone/chemistry , Molecular Docking Simulation , SARS-CoV-2/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/metabolism , Calcium/chemistry , Calcium/metabolism , Coronavirus 3C Proteases/chemistry , Coronavirus 3C Proteases/metabolism , Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/chemistry , Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/metabolism , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/chemistry , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/metabolism , Drug Design , Humans , Iron/chemistry , Iron/metabolism , Magnesium/chemistry , Magnesium/metabolism , Manganese/chemistry , Manganese/metabolism , Metals/metabolism , Methisazone/metabolism , Models, Molecular , Molecular Dynamics Simulation , Protein Binding , SARS-CoV-2/metabolism , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/chemistry , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism , Zinc/chemistry , Zinc/metabolism , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic situation due to a new viral infection (COVID-19) caused by a novel virus (Sars-CoV-2). COVID-19 is today the leading cause of death from viral infections in the world. It is known that many elements play important roles in viral infections, both in virus survival, and in the activation of the host's immune system, which depends on the presence of micronutrients to maintain the integrity of its functions. In this sense, the metallome can be an important object of study for understanding viral infections. Therefore, this work presents an overview of the role of trace elements in the immune system and the state of the art in metallomics, highlighting the challenges found in studies focusing on viral infections.