Brepocitinib for COVID-19

AbstractHuman organoids recapitulate the cell type diversity and function of their primary organs holding tremendous potentials for basic and translational research. Advances in single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) technology and genome‐wide association study (GWAS) have accelerated the biological and therapeutic interpretation of trait‐relevant cell types or states. Here, we constructed a computational framework to integrate atlas‐level organoid scRNA‐seq data, GWAS summary statistics, expression quantitative trait loci, and gene–drug interaction data for distinguishing critical cell populations and drug targets relevant to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) severity. We found that 39 cell types across eight kinds of organoids were significantly associated with COVID‐19 outcomes. Notably, subset of lung mesenchymal stem cells increased proximity with fibroblasts predisposed to repair COVID‐19‐damaged lung tissue. Brain endothelial cell subset exhibited significant associations with severe COVID‐19, and this cell subset showed a notable increase in cell‐to‐cell interactions with other brain cell types, including microglia. We repurposed 33 druggable genes, including IFNAR2, TYK2, and VIPR2, and their interacting drugs for COVID‐19 in a cell‐type‐specific manner. Overall, our results showcase that host genetic determinants have cellular‐specific contribution to COVID‐19 severity, and identification of cell type‐specific drug targets may facilitate to develop effective therapeutics for treating severe COVID‐19 and its complications.

The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the pathogenic cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV-2 is a potential target for the treatment of COVID-19. An RdRp complex:dsRNA structure suitable for docking simulations was prepared using a cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure (PDB ID: 7AAP; resolution, 2.60 Å) that was reported recently. Structural refinement was performed using energy calculations. Structure-based virtual screening was performed using the ChEMBL database. Through 1,838,257 screenings, 249 drugs (37 approved, 93 clinical, and 119 preclinical drugs) were predicted to exhibit a high binding affinity for the RdRp complex:dsRNA. Nine nucleoside triphosphate analogs with anti-viral activity were included among these hit drugs, and among them, remdesivir-ribonucleoside triphosphate and favipiravir-ribonucleoside triphosphate adopted a similar docking mode as that observed in the cryo-EM structure. Additional docking simulations for the predicted compounds with high binding affinity for the RdRp complex:dsRNA suggested that 184 bioactive compounds could be anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug candidates. The hit bioactive compounds mainly consisted of a typical noncovalent major groove binder for dsRNA. Three-layer ONIOM (MP2/6-31G:AM1:AMBER) geometry optimization calculations and frequency analyses (MP2/6-31G:AMBER) were performed to estimate the binding free energy of a representative bioactive compound obtained from the docking simulation, and the fragment molecular orbital calculation at the MP2/6-31G level of theory was subsequently performed for analyzing the detailed interactions. The procedure used in this study represents a possible strategy for discovering anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs from drug libraries that could significantly shorten the clinical development period for drug repositioning.