Discovery of re-purposed drugs that slow SARS-CoV-2 replication in human cells

COVID-19 vaccines based on the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 have been developed that appear to be largely successful in stopping infection. However, therapeutics that can help manage the disease are still required until immunity has been achieved globally. The identification of repurposed drugs that stop SARS-CoV-2 replication could have enormous utility in stemming the disease. Here, using a nano-luciferase tagged version of the virus (SARS-CoV-2-ΔOrf7a-NLuc) to quantitate viral load, we evaluated a range of human cell types for their ability to be infected and support replication of the virus, and performed a screen of 1971 FDA-approved drugs. Hepatocytes, kidney glomerulus, and proximal tubule cells were particularly effective in supporting SARS-CoV-2 replication, which is in-line with reported proteinuria and liver damage in patients with COVID-19. Using the nano-luciferase as a measure of virus replication we identified 35 drugs that reduced replication in Vero cells and human hepatocytes when treated prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection and found amodiaquine, atovaquone, bedaquiline, ebastine, LY2835219, manidipine, panobinostat, and vitamin D3 to be effective in slowing SARS-CoV-2 replication in human cells when used to treat infected cells. In conclusion, our study has identified strong candidates for drug repurposing, which could prove powerful additions to the treatment of COVID.

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Discovery of re-purposed drugs that slow SARS-CoV-2 replication in human cells

10.1101/2021.01.31.428851 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Adam Pickard ◽

Ben C. Calverley ◽

Joan Chang ◽

Richa Garva ◽

Yinhui Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Repurposing ◽

Cell Types ◽

Human Hepatocytes ◽

Human Cells ◽

Proximal Tubule Cells ◽

Kidney Glomerulus ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Repurposed Drugs ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Fda Approved Drugs

ABSTRACTCOVID-19 vaccines based on the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 have been developed that appear to be largely successful in stopping infection. However, vaccine escape variants might arise leading to a re-emergence of COVID. In anticipation of such a scenario, the identification of repurposed drugs that stop SARS-CoV-2 replication could have enormous utility in stemming the disease. Here, using a nano-luciferase tagged version of the virus (SARS-CoV-2- DOrf7a-NLuc) to quantitate viral load, we evaluated a range of human cell types for their ability to be infected and support replication of the virus, and performed a screen of 1971 FDA-approved drugs. Hepatocytes, kidney glomerulus, and proximal tubule cells were particularly effective in supporting SARS-CoV-2 replication, which is in- line with reported proteinuria and liver damage in patients with COVID-19. We identified 35 drugs that reduced viral replication in Vero and human hepatocytes when treated prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection and found amodiaquine, atovaquone, bedaquiline, ebastine, LY2835219, manidipine, panobinostat, and vitamin D3 to be effective in slowing SARS-CoV-2 replication in human cells when used to treat infected cells. In conclusion, our study has identified strong candidates for drug repurposing, which could prove powerful additions to the treatment of COVID.

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Drug repurposing screens reveal FDA approved drugs active against SARS-Cov-2

10.1101/2020.06.19.161042 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Mark Dittmar ◽

Jae Seung Lee ◽

Kanupriya Whig ◽

Elisha Segrist ◽

Minghua Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Sensitivity ◽

Drug Repurposing ◽

Vero Cells ◽

Low Ph ◽

Lung Epithelial Cells ◽

Lung Cells ◽

Clinical Implementation ◽

Lung Epithelial ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Fda Approved Drugs

AbstractThere are an urgent need for antivirals to treat the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2. To identify new candidates we screened a repurposing library of ~3,000 drugs. Screening in Vero cells found few antivirals, while screening in human Huh7.5 cells validated 23 diverse antiviral drugs. Extending our studies to lung epithelial cells, we found that there are major differences in drug sensitivity and entry pathways used by SARS-CoV-2 in these cells. Entry in lung epithelial Calu-3 cells is pH-independent and requires TMPRSS2, while entry in Vero and Huh7.5 cells requires low pH and triggering by acid-dependent endosomal proteases. Moreover, we found 9 drugs are antiviral in lung cells, 7 of which have been tested in humans, and 3 are FDA approved including Cyclosporine which we found is targeting Cyclophilin rather than Calcineurin for its antiviral activity. These antivirals reveal essential host targets and have the potential for rapid clinical implementation.

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Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Exhibit Low Antiviral Activity against SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v13010008 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 8

Author(s):

Stacey L. P. Scroggs ◽

Danielle K. Offerdahl ◽

Dylan P. Flather ◽

Ciera N. Morris ◽

Benjamin L. Kendall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cultured Cells ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

A549 Cells ◽

Cell Types ◽

Vero Cells ◽

Cellular Toxicity ◽

Antiviral Therapies ◽

Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Fda Approved Drugs

Repurposing FDA-approved drugs that treat respiratory infections caused by coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, could quickly provide much needed antiviral therapies. In the current study, the potency and cellular toxicity of four fluoroquinolones (enoxacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin) were assessed in Vero cells and A549 cells engineered to overexpress ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor. All four fluoroquinolones suppressed SARS-CoV-2 replication at high micromolar concentrations in both cell types, with enoxacin demonstrating the lowest effective concentration 50 value (EC50) of 126.4 μM in Vero cells. Enoxacin also suppressed the replication of MERS-CoV-2 in Vero cells at high micromolar concentrations. Cellular toxicity of levofloxacin was not found in either cell type. In Vero cells, minimal toxicity was observed following treatment with ≥37.5 μM enoxacin and 600 μM ciprofloxacin. Toxicity in both cell types was detected after moxifloxacin treatment of ≥300 μM. In summary, these results suggest that the ability of fluoroquinolones to suppress SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV replication in cultured cells is limited.

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Drug Repurposing and Orphan Disease Therapeutics

Drug Repurposing - Hypothesis, Molecular Aspects and Therapeutic Applications ◽

10.5772/intechopen.91941 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Neha Dhir ◽

Ashish Jain ◽

Dhruv Mahendru ◽

Ajay Prakash ◽

Bikash Medhi

Keyword(s):

Drug Repositioning ◽

Low Cost ◽

Drug Repurposing ◽

Orphan Disease ◽

Current Status ◽

Regulatory Guidelines ◽

Repurposed Drugs ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Clinical Conditions ◽

Fda Approved Drugs

Drug repurposing (or drug repositioning) is an innovative way to find out the new indications of a drug that already exists in the market with known therapeutic indications. It offers an effective way to drug developers or the pharmaceutical companies to identify new targets for FDA-approved drugs. Less time consumption, low cost and low risk of failure are some of the advantages being offered with drug repurposing. Sildenafil (Viagra), a landmark example of a repurposed drug, was introduced into the market as an antianginal drug. But at present, its use is repurposed as drug for erectile dysfunction. In a similar way, numerous drugs are there that have been successfully repurposed in managing the clinical conditions. The chapter would be highlighting the various drug repurposing strategies, drugs repurposed in the past and the current status of repurposed drugs in the orphan disease therapeutics along with regulatory guidelines for drug repurposing.

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Drugs repurposed for COVID-19 by virtual screening of 6,218 drugs and cell-based assay

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2024302118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (30) ◽

pp. e2024302118

Author(s):

Woo Dae Jang ◽

Sangeun Jeon ◽

Seungtaek Kim ◽

Sang Yup Lee

Keyword(s):

Virtual Screening ◽

Synergistic Effects ◽

Drug Repurposing ◽

Vero Cells ◽

False Positives ◽

Human Lung Cells ◽

Main Protease ◽

General Drug ◽

Repurposed Drugs ◽

Approved Drugs

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is an unprecedentedly significant health threat, prompting the need for rapidly developing antiviral drugs for the treatment. Drug repurposing is currently one of the most tangible options for rapidly developing drugs for emerging and reemerging viruses. In general, drug repurposing starts with virtual screening of approved drugs employing various computational methods. However, the actual hit rate of virtual screening is very low, and most of the predicted compounds are false positives. Here, we developed a strategy for virtual screening with much reduced false positives through incorporating predocking filtering based on shape similarity and postdocking filtering based on interaction similarity. We applied this advanced virtual screening approach to repurpose 6,218 approved and clinical trial drugs for COVID-19. All 6,218 compounds were screened against main protease and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2, resulting in 15 and 23 potential repurposed drugs, respectively. Among them, seven compounds can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero cells. Three of these drugs, emodin, omipalisib, and tipifarnib, show anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities in human lung cells, Calu-3. Notably, the activity of omipalisib is 200-fold higher than that of remdesivir in Calu-3. Furthermore, three drug combinations, omipalisib/remdesivir, tipifarnib/omipalisib, and tipifarnib/remdesivir, show strong synergistic effects in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2. Such drug combination therapy improves antiviral efficacy in SARS-CoV-2 infection and reduces the risk of each drug’s toxicity. The drug repurposing strategy reported here will be useful for rapidly developing drugs for treating COVID-19 and other viruses.

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Structural Basis of Antisickling Effects of Selected FDA Approved Drugs: A Drug Repurposing Study

Current Computer - Aided Drug Design ◽

10.2174/1573409914666180129163711 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 106-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Olujide O. Olubiyi ◽

Maryam O. Olagunju ◽

James O. Oni ◽

Abidemi O. Olubiyi

Keyword(s):

Drug Repurposing ◽

Structural Basis ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Fda Approved Drugs

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Screening of an FDA-Approved Library for Novel Drugs against Y. pestis

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics10010040 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 40

Author(s):

David Gur ◽

Theodor Chitlaru ◽

Emanuelle Mamroud ◽

Ayelet Zauberman

Keyword(s):

Drug Repurposing ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Systematic Screening ◽

Antibiotic Resistant ◽

Gram Negative ◽

Therapy Initiation ◽

Novel Drugs ◽

Resistant Strains ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Fda Approved Drugs

Yersinia pestis is a Gram-negative pathogen that causes plague, a devastating disease that kills millions worldwide. Although plague is efficiently treatable by recommended antibiotics, the time of antibiotic therapy initiation is critical, as high mortality rates have been observed if treatment is delayed for longer than 24 h after symptom onset. To overcome the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains, we attempted a systematic screening of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs to identify alternative compounds which may possess antibacterial activity against Y. pestis. Here, we describe a drug-repurposing approach, which led to the identification of two antibiotic-like activities of the anticancer drugs bleomycin sulfate and streptozocin that have the potential for designing novel antiplague therapy approaches. The inhibitory characteristics of these two drugs were further addressed as well as their efficiency in affecting the growth of Y. pestis strains resistant to doxycycline and ciprofloxacin, antibiotics recommended for plague treatment.

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