Inhibition Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 Infection by a Cholesterol Derivative, Nat-20(S)-yne

Biol Pharm Bull. 2024;47(5):930-940. doi: 10.1248/bpb.b23-00797.ABSTRACTThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the etiological agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19, with the recurrent epidemics of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, remains a global public health problem, and new antivirals are still required. Some cholesterol derivatives, such as 25-hydroxycholesterol, are known to have antiviral activity against a wide range of enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. At the entry step of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the viral envelope fuses with the host membrane dependent of viral spike (S) glycoproteins. From the screening of cholesterol derivatives, we found a new compound 26,27-dinorcholest-5-en-24-yne-3β,20-diol (Nat-20(S)-yne) that inhibited the SARS-CoV-2 S protein-dependent membrane fusion in a syncytium formation assay. Nat-20(S)-yne exhibited the inhibitory activities of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus entry and intact SARS-CoV-2 infection in a dose-dependent manner. Among the variants of SARS-CoV-2, inhibition of infection by Nat-20(S)-yne was stronger in delta and Wuhan strains, which predominantly invade into cells via fusion at the plasma membrane, than in omicron strains. The interaction between receptor-binding domain of S proteins and host receptor ACE2 was not affected by Nat-20(S)-yne. Unlike 25-hydroxycholesterol, which regulates various steps of cholesterol metabolism, Nat-20(S)-yne inhibited only de nov...
Source: Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Source Type: research