Celastrol: A lead compound that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication, the activity of viral and human cysteine proteases, and virus-induced IL-6 secretion.
Drug Dev Res
; 83(7): 1623-1640, 2022 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1999851
ABSTRACT
The global emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused substantial human casualties. Clinical manifestations of this disease vary from asymptomatic to lethal, and the symptomatic form can be associated with cytokine storm and hyperinflammation. In face of the urgent demand for effective drugs to treat COVID-19, we have searched for candidate compounds using in silico approach followed by experimental validation. Here we identified celastrol, a pentacyclic triterpene isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, as one of the best compounds out of 39 drug candidates. Celastrol reverted the gene expression signature from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected cells and irreversibly inhibited the recombinant forms of the viral and human cysteine proteases involved in virus invasion, such as Mpro (main protease), PLpro (papain-like protease), and recombinant human cathepsin L. Celastrol suppressed SARS-CoV-2 replication in human and monkey cell lines and decreased interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion in the SARS-CoV-2-infected human cell line. Celastrol acted in a concentration-dependent manner, with undetectable signs of cytotoxicity, and inhibited in vitro replication of the parental and SARS-CoV-2 variant. Therefore, celastrol is a promising lead compound to develop new drug candidates to face COVID-19 due to its ability to suppress SARS-CoV-2 replication and IL-6 production in infected cells.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Antiviral Agents
/
Pentacyclic Triterpenes
/
Coronavirus 3C Proteases
/
COVID-19 Drug Treatment
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Topics:
Variants
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Drug Dev Res
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ddr.21982
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