Abstract
Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 causes a mild to severe respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While control of the SARS-CoV-2 spread partly depends on vaccine-induced or naturally acquired protective herd immunity, antiviral strategies are still needed to manage COVID-19. Enisamium is an inhibitor of influenza A and B viruses in cell culture and clinically approved in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In vitro, enisamium acts through metabolite VR17-04 and inhibits the activity of the influenza A virus RNA polymerase. Here we show that enisamium can inhibit coronavirus infections in NHBE and Caco-2 cells, and the activity of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase in vitro. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations provide insight into the mechanism of action and indicate that enisamium metabolite VR17-04 prevents GTP and UTP incorporation. Overall, these results suggest that enisamium is an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 RNA synthesis in vitro.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 1254 |
Journal | Biomedicines |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
Keywords
- Amizon
- COVID-19
- FAV00A
- Molecular dynamics simulation
- RNA polymerase
- SARS-CoV-2