Potent inhibition of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 by photosensitizers compounds

Shujuan Yu; Gaohui Sun; Yaqun Sui; Hanlin Li; Yuhan Mai; Guodong Wang; Ning Zhang; Yuhai Bi; George F Gao; Peng Xu; Longguang Jiang; Cai Yuan; Yang Yang; Mingdong Huang

doi:10.1016/j.dyepig.2021.109570

Potent inhibition of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 by photosensitizers compounds

Dyes Pigm. 2021 Oct:194:109570. doi: 10.1016/j.dyepig.2021.109570. Epub 2021 Jun 22.

Authors

Shujuan Yu¹, Gaohui Sun¹, Yaqun Sui¹, Hanlin Li¹, Yuhan Mai¹, Guodong Wang¹, Ning Zhang², Yuhai Bi^{2

3}, George F Gao^{2

3}, Peng Xu⁴, Longguang Jiang¹, Cai Yuan⁴, Yang Yang⁵, Mingdong Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fujian, 350108, China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Center for Influenza Research and Early-warning (CASCIRE), CAS-TWAS Center of Excellence for Emerging Infectious Diseases (CEEID), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China.
⁴ College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350108, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Immunity, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, State Key Discipline of Infectious Disease, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Second Hospital Affiliated to Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) posed a major challenge to the public health. Currently, no proven antiviral treatment for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is available. Here we report compounds pentalysine β-carbonylphthalocyanine zinc (ZnPc5K) and chlorin e6 (ce6) potently inhibited the viral infection and replication in vitro with EC₅₀ values at nanomolar level. These compounds were first identified by screening a panel of photosensitizers for photodynamic viral inactivation. Such viral inactivation strategy is implementable, and has unique advantages, including resistance to virus mutations, affordability compared to the monoclonal antibodies, and lack of long-term toxicity.

Keywords: COVID-19; Photodynamic; Photosensitizer; SARS-CoV-2 inactivation.