Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
Antiviral Res. 2023 Jan;209:105484. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2022.105484. Epub 2022 Dec 8.
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), remains a global public health crisis. The reduced efficacy of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs), such as omicron BA.5 subvariants, has underlined the need to explore a novel spectrum of antivirals that are effective against existing and evolving SARS-CoV-2 VOCs. To address the need for novel therapeutic options, we applied cell-based high-content screening to a library of natural products (NPs) obtained from plants, fungi, bacteria, and marine sponges, which represent a considerable diversity of chemical scaffolds. The antiviral effect of 373 NPs was evaluated using the mNeonGreen (mNG) reporter SARS-CoV-2 virus in a lung epithelial cell line (Calu-3). The screening identified 26 NPs with half-maximal effective concentrations (EC) below 50 μM against mNG-SARS-CoV-2; 16 of these had EC values below 10 μM and three NPs (holyrine A, alotaketal C, and bafilomycin D) had EC values in the nanomolar range. We demonstrated the pan-SARS-CoV-2 activity of these three lead antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 highly transmissible Omicron subvariants (BA.5, BA.2 and BA.1) and highly pathogenic Delta VOCs in human Calu-3 lung cells. Notably, holyrine A, alotaketal C, and bafilomycin D, are potent nanomolar inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BA.5 and BA.2. The pan-SARS-CoV-2 activity of alotaketal C [protein kinase C (PKC) activator] and bafilomycin D (V-ATPase inhibitor) suggest that these two NPs are acting as host-directed antivirals (HDAs). Future research should explore whether PKC regulation impacts human susceptibility to and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and it should confirm the important role of human V-ATPase in the VOC lifecycle. Interestingly, we observed a synergistic action of bafilomycin D and N-0385 (a highly potent inhibitor of human TMPRSS2 protease) against Omicron subvariant BA.2 in human Calu-3 lung cells, which suggests that these two highly potent HDAs are targeting two different mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 entry. Overall, our study provides insight into the potential of NPs with highly diverse chemical structures as valuable inspirational starting points for developing pan-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics and for unravelling potential host factors and pathways regulating SARS-CoV-2 VOC infection including emerging omicron BA.5 subvariants.
新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)引发的 COVID-19 大流行仍然是全球公共卫生危机。针对新兴的严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 变种(VOC),如奥密克戎 BA.5 亚变种,治疗性单克隆抗体的疗效降低,这突显了需要探索针对现有和不断进化的 SARS-CoV-2 VOC 的新型抗病毒药物谱。为了满足新型治疗方法的需求,我们应用基于细胞的高通量筛选方法,对来自植物、真菌、细菌和海绵的天然产物(NPs)文库进行筛选,该文库代表了相当多样的化学支架。我们使用肺上皮细胞系(Calu-3)中的 mNeonGreen(mNG)报告 SARS-CoV-2 病毒评估了 373 种 NPs 的抗病毒作用。筛选鉴定出 26 种 NPs,其对 mNG-SARS-CoV-2 的半数有效浓度(EC)低于 50 μM;其中 16 种的 EC 值低于 10 μM,3 种 NPs(holyrine A、alotaketal C 和 bafilomycin D)的 EC 值在纳摩尔范围内。我们证明了这三种先导抗病毒药物对 SARS-CoV-2 高传染性奥密克戎亚变种(BA.5、BA.2 和 BA.1)和高致病性 Delta VOC 的广谱 SARS-CoV-2 活性在人 Calu-3 肺细胞中。值得注意的是,holyrine A、alotaketal C 和 bafilomycin D 是 SARS-CoV-2 奥密克戎亚变种 BA.5 和 BA.2 的强效纳米摩尔抑制剂。alotaketal C [蛋白激酶 C(PKC)激活剂]和 bafilomycin D(V-ATPase 抑制剂)的广谱 SARS-CoV-2 活性表明,这两种 NPs 作为宿主定向抗病毒药物(HDAs)发挥作用。未来的研究应该探索 PKC 调节是否会影响人类对 SARS-CoV-2 感染的易感性和严重程度,并应确认人类 V-ATPase 在 VOC 生命周期中的重要作用。有趣的是,我们观察到 bafilomycin D 和 N-0385(一种高效的人类 TMPRSS2 蛋白酶抑制剂)在人 Calu-3 肺细胞中对奥密克戎亚变种 BA.2 的协同作用,这表明这两种强效的 HDA 靶向 SARS-CoV-2 进入的两种不同机制。总体而言,我们的研究提供了对具有高度多样化学结构的 NPs 作为开发广谱 SARS-CoV-2 治疗药物的有价值的灵感起点的深入了解,并为揭示调节 SARS-CoV-2 VOC 感染的潜在宿主因素和途径提供了线索,包括新兴的奥密克戎 BA.5 亚变种。
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