Coronaviruses (CoVs), a family of enveloped positive-sense RNA viruses, are characterized by club-like spikes that project from their surface, unusually large RNA genome, and unique replication capability. CoVs are known to cause various potentially lethal human respiratory infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the very recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Unfortunately, neither drug nor vaccine has yet been approved to date to prevent and treat these diseases caused by CoVs. Therefore, effective prevention and treatment medications against human coronavirus are in urgent need. In the past decades, many natural compounds have been reported to possess multiple biological activities, including antiviral properties. In this article, we provided a comprehensive review on the natural compounds that interfere with the life cycles of SARS and MERS, and discussed their potential use for the treatment of COVID-19.
Keywords: 3CLpro, chymotrypsin-like protease; ACE2, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; COVID-19; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; CoVs, coronaviruses; Coronavirus; DAT, desaminotyrosine; ER, endoplasmic reticulum; ERGIC, endoplasmic reticulum–Golgi intermediate compartment; HCoVs, human coronaviruses; HLH, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis; HR, heptad repeats; HSV, herpes simplex virus; IL, interleukin; LHQWC, Lian-Hua-Qing-Wen Capsule; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome; MERS-CoV; MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; N protein, nucleocapsid protein; NCIP, novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia; NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; Natural compounds; PI3K, phosphoinositide 3-kinases; PLpro, papain-like protease; RNA-Virus; RTC, replication transcription complex; RdRp, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; S protein, spike protein; SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome; SARS-CoV; SARS-CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; STAT, signal transducer and activator of transcription; TCM, traditional Chinese medicine; WHO, World Health Organization.
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