Institute of Virology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
Institute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases, University Hospital Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 22;22(19):10205. doi: 10.3390/ijms221910205.
Even in the face of global vaccination campaigns, there is still an urgent need for effective antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 and its rapidly spreading variants. Several natural compounds show potential as antiviral substances and have the advantages of broad availabilities and large therapeutic windows. Here, we report that lectin from (Wheat Germ Agglutinin) displays antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and its major Variants of Concern (VoC), Alpha and Beta. In Vero B4 cells, WGA potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection with an IC of <10 ng/mL. WGA is effective upon preincubation with the virus or when added during infection. Pull-down assays demonstrate direct binding of WGA to SARS-CoV-2, further strengthening the hypothesis that inhibition of viral entry by neutralizing free virions might be the mode of action behind its antiviral effect. Furthermore, WGA exhibits antiviral activity against human coronavirus OC43, but not against other non-coronaviruses causing respiratory tract infections. Finally, WGA inhibits infection of the lung cell line Calu-3 with wild type and VoC viruses with comparable IC values. Altogether, our data indicate that topical administration of WGA might be effective for prophylaxis or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
即使在全球疫苗接种运动的情况下，仍然迫切需要针对 SARS-CoV-2 及其迅速传播的变体的有效抗病毒药物。几种天然化合物显示出作为抗病毒物质的潜力，并且具有广泛可用性和大治疗窗的优点。在这里，我们报告凝集素来自 （麦胚凝集素）对 SARS-CoV-2 及其主要关注变体（Alpha 和 Beta）显示出抗病毒活性。在 Vero B4 细胞中，WGA 强烈抑制 SARS-CoV-2 感染，IC 小于 10ng/mL。WGA 在与病毒预孵育时有效，或者在感染期间添加时有效。下拉测定表明 WGA 与 SARS-CoV-2 的直接结合，进一步加强了抑制游离病毒颗粒的病毒进入可能是其抗病毒作用的作用模式的假设。此外，WGA 对人冠状病毒 OC43 表现出抗病毒活性，但对引起呼吸道感染的其他非冠状病毒无效。最后，WGA 以可比的 IC 值抑制野生型和 VoC 病毒对肺细胞系 Calu-3 的感染。总之，我们的数据表明，WGA 的局部给药可能有效预防或治疗 SARS-CoV-2 感染。
