Molecular docking suggests repurposing of brincidofovir as a potential drug targeting SARS-CoV-2 ACE2 receptor and main protease

Mostafa A Hussien; Ahmed E M Abdelaziz

doi:10.1007/s13721-020-00263-6

Molecular docking suggests repurposing of brincidofovir as a potential drug targeting SARS-CoV-2 ACE2 receptor and main protease

Netw Model Anal Health Inform Bioinform. 2020;9(1):56. doi: 10.1007/s13721-020-00263-6. Epub 2020 Aug 8.

Authors

Mostafa A Hussien^{1

2}, Ahmed E M Abdelaziz^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, POB 80203, Jeddah, 21589 Saudi Arabia.
² Faculty of Science, Port-Said University, 23 December Street, POB 42522, Port-Said, Egypt.
³ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4 Canada.

Abstract

Abstract: The current outbreak of the highly transmittable and life-threatening severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved rapidly and posed a global health emergency. Many clinical trials are now being conducted to test possible therapies. To assist this, virtual screening via molecular docking was performed on several FDA-approved drugs, previously used in epidemics, and the top ten compounds were selected. These ten well-characterized drugs, previously used to treat malaria and Ebola infections, were screened based on their interactions with the SARS-CoV-2 ACE2 receptor and 3C-like protease. Compared to the other nine medicines, brincidofovir, an ether lipid ester analog of cidofovir with potent antiviral activity, showed the highest docking scores and binding interactions. Therefore, brincidofovir is worth further investigations and clinical trials as a possible therapeutic agent for the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: 3C-like protease; ACE2 receptor; Brincidofovir; COVID-19; Molecular docking; Novel coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2.