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J Med Chem
. 2020 Jun 15.
doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00502. Online ahead of print.
Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Entry: Current and Future Opportunities
Siyu Xiu, Alexej Dick, Han Ju, Sako Mirzaie, Fatemeh Abdi, Simon Cocklin, Peng Zhan, Xinyong Liu
- PMID: 32539378
- DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00502
Abstract
Recently, a novel coronavirus initially designated 2019-nCoV but now termed SARS-CoV-2 has emerged and raised global concerns due to its virulence. SARS-CoV-2 is the etiological agent of "coronavirus disease 2019", abbreviated to COVID-19, which despite only being identified at the very end of 2019, has now been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). At this time, no specific prophylactic or post-exposure therapy for COVID-19 is currently available. Viral entry is the first step in the SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle and is mediated by the trimeric spike protein. Being the first stage in infection, entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells is an extremely attractive therapeutic intervention point. Within this review, we highlight therapeutic intervention strategies for anti-SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and other coronaviruses and speculate upon future directions for SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitor designs.