Masitinib for COVID-19
Masitinib has been reported as potentially beneficial for
treatment of COVID-19. We have not reviewed these studies.
See all other treatments.
Drug repurposing screen identifies masitinib as a 3CLpro inhibitor that blocks replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, bioRxiv, doi:10.1101/2020.08.31.274639
,
AbstractThere is an urgent need for anti-viral agents that treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. The shortest path to clinical use is repurposing of drugs that have an established safety profile in humans. Here, we first screened a library of 1,900 clinically safe drugs for inhibiting replication of OC43, a human beta-coronavirus that causes the common-cold and is a relative of SARS-CoV-2, and identified 108 effective drugs. We further evaluated the top 26 hits and determined their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2, as well as other pathogenic RNA viruses. 20 of the 26 drugs significantly inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in human lung cells (A549 epithelial cell line), with EC50 values ranging from 0.1 to 8 micromolar. We investigated the mechanism of action for these and found that masitinib, a drug originally developed as a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor for cancer treatment, strongly inhibited the activity of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease 3CLpro. X-ray crystallography revealed that masitinib directly binds to the active site of 3CLpro, thereby blocking its enzymatic activity. Mastinib also inhibited the related viral protease of picornaviruses and blocked picornaviruses replication. Thus, our results show that masitinib has broad anti-viral activity against two distinct beta-coronaviruses and multiple picornaviruses that cause human disease and is a strong candidate for clinical trials to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Discovery of host-directed modulators of virus infection by probing the SARS-CoV-2–host protein–protein interaction network, Briefings in Bioinformatics, doi:10.1093/bib/bbac456
,
Abstract The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need to better understand virus–host interactions. We developed a network-based method that expands the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)–host protein interaction network and identifies host targets that modulate viral infection. To disrupt the SARS-CoV-2 interactome, we systematically probed for potent compounds that selectively target the identified host proteins with high expression in cells relevant to COVID-19. We experimentally tested seven chemical inhibitors of the identified host proteins for modulation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human cells that express ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Inhibition of the epigenetic regulators bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) and histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), along with ubiquitin-specific peptidase (USP10), enhanced SARS-CoV-2 infection. Such proviral effect was observed upon treatment with compounds JQ1, vorinostat, romidepsin and spautin-1, when measured by cytopathic effect and validated by viral RNA assays, suggesting that the host proteins HDAC2, BRD4 and USP10 have antiviral functions. We observed marked differences in antiviral effects across cell lines, which may have consequences for identification of selective modulators of viral infection or potential antiviral therapeutics. While network-based approaches enable systematic identification of host targets and selective compounds that may modulate the SARS-CoV-2 interactome, further developments are warranted to increase their accuracy and cell-context specificity.
Virtual Screening and Quantum Chemistry Analysis for SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Using the ChEMBL Database: Reproduction of the Remdesivir-RTP and Favipiravir-RTP Binding Modes Obtained from Cryo-EM Experiments with High Binding Affinity, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, doi:10.3390/ijms231911009
,
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.
Please send us corrections, updates, or comments. Vaccines and
treatments are complementary. All practical, effective, and safe means should
be used based on risk/benefit analysis. No treatment, vaccine, or intervention
is 100% available and effective for all current and future variants. We do not
provide medical advice. Before taking any medication, consult a qualified
physician who can provide personalized advice and details of risks and
benefits based on your medical history and situation. FLCCC and WCH
provide treatment protocols.
Thanks for your feedback! Please search before submitting papers and note
that studies are listed under the date they were first available, which may be
the date of an earlier preprint.