scholarly journals The Role of Renin: Angiotensin: Aldosterone System in the Pathogenesis and Pathophysiology of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozlem G. Sahin

The novel coronavirus also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) whose origin is still having uncertainties related to the existence of an intermediate host, has created the currently ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019. (COVID-19) The binding assays of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain disclosed enhanced affinity with human angiotensin II-converting enzyme receptor (hACE2) comparing to the bat ACE2 receptors. ACE2, is an essential component of the regulatory mechanism of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, (RAAS) and this pathway is considered to interact with the pathophysiology of COVID-19. In this chapter, we will discuss the key role of RAAS in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saroj Kumar Panda ◽  
Parth Sarthi Sen Gupta ◽  
Satyaranjan Biswal ◽  
Abhik Kumar Ray ◽  
Malay Kumar Rana

<p>SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus causing overwhelming death and infection worldwide, has emerged as a pandemic. Compared to its predecessor SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is more infective for being highly contagious and exhibiting tighter binding with host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE-2). The entry of the virus into host cells is mediated by the interaction of its spike protein with hACE-2. Thus, a peptide that has a resemblance to hACE-2 but can overpower the spike protein-hACE-2 interaction will be a potential therapeutic to contain this virus. The non-interacting residues in the receptor-binding domain of hACE-2 have been mutated to generate a library of 136 new peptides. Out of this library, docking and virtual screening discover seven peptides that can exert a stronger interaction with the spike protein than hACE-2. A peptide derived from simultaneous mutation of all the non-interacting residues of hACE-2 yields two-fold stronger interaction than hACE-2 and thus turns out here to be the best peptide-inhibitor of the novel coronavirus. The binding of the spike protein and the best peptide-inhibitor with hACE-2 is explored further by molecular dynamics, free energy, and principal component analysis to demonstrate its efficacy. Further, the inhibition assay study with the best peptide inhibitor is in progress. </p>


Coronaviruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikas Pandey ◽  
Indu Lata Kanwar ◽  
Tanweer Haider ◽  
Vishal Gour ◽  
Monika Vishwakarma ◽  
...  

: The novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic, as declared by WHO in March 2020 producing the deleterious effects to patients worldwide. The angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) has been recognized as the co-receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infections and may acts as a therapeutic step in blocking the enzyme to reduce SARS-CoV-2 expression and further cellular entry. Presently, the role of ACE-2 in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has been known and the experts have started working on the enzyme ACE-2 for the management and treatment of this pandemic disease. The binding of spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 to these receptors is the most important step and plays a key role in viral replication, thus this enzyme is becoming the doorway for the entry and spread in the human body causing asymptomatic pneumonia and severe of which is leading to death. As no specific method to prevent and treat this disease is available, the use of ACE-2 as a targeting ligand with COVID-19 virus spike protein could be helpful in the proper management of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.


Author(s):  
Pranam Chatterjee ◽  
Manvitha Ponnapati ◽  
Joseph M. Jacobson

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has elicited a global health crisis of catastrophic proportions. With no approved cure or vaccine currently available, there is a critical need for effective antiviral strategies. In this study, we report a novel antiviral platform, through computational design of ACE2-derived peptides which both target the viral spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and recruit E3 ubiquitin ligases for subsequent intracellular degradation of SARS-CoV-2 in the proteasome. Our engineered peptide fusions demonstrate robust RBD degradation capabilities in human cells, thus prompting their further experimental characterization and therapeutic development.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saroj Kumar Panda ◽  
Parth Sarthi Sen Gupta ◽  
Satyaranjan Biswal ◽  
Abhik Kumar Ray ◽  
Malay Kumar Rana

<p>SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus causing overwhelming death and infection worldwide, has emerged as a pandemic. Compared to its predecessor SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 is more infective for being highly contagious and exhibiting tighter binding with host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE-2). The entry of the virus into host cells is mediated by the interaction of its spike protein with hACE-2. Thus, a peptide that has a resemblance to hACE-2 but can overpower the spike protein-hACE-2 interaction will be a potential therapeutic to contain this virus. The non-interacting residues in the receptor-binding domain of hACE-2 have been mutated to generate a library of 136 new peptides. Out of this library, docking and virtual screening discover seven peptides that can exert a stronger interaction with the spike protein than hACE-2. A peptide derived from simultaneous mutation of all the non-interacting residues of hACE-2 yields two-fold stronger interaction than hACE-2 and thus turns out here to be the best peptide-inhibitor of the novel coronavirus. The binding of the spike protein and the best peptide-inhibitor with hACE-2 is explored further by molecular dynamics, free energy, and principal component analysis to demonstrate its efficacy. Further, the inhibition assay study with the best peptide inhibitor is in progress. </p>


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Zhi-Ling Zhu ◽  
Xiao-Dan Qiu ◽  
Shuo Wu ◽  
Yi-Tong Liu ◽  
Ting Zhao ◽  
...  

The novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) has been affecting global health since the end of 2019, and there is no sign that the epidemic is abating. Targeting the interaction between the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor is a promising therapeutic strategy. In this study, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was used as the primary method to screen a library of 960 compounds. A compound 02B05 (demethylzeylasteral, CAS number: 107316-88-1) that had high affinities for S-RBD and ACE2 was discovered, and binding affinities (KD, μM) of 02B05-ACE2 and 02B05-S-RBD were 1.736 and 1.039 μM, respectively. The results of a competition experiment showed that 02B05 could effectively block the binding of S-RBD to ACE2 protein. Furthermore, pseudovirus infection assay revealed that 02B05 could inhibit entry of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus into 293T cells to a certain extent at nontoxic concentration. The compoundobtained in this study serve as references for the design of drugs which have potential in the treatment of COVID-19 and can thus accelerate the process of developing effective drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2 infections.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranam Chatterjee ◽  
Manvitha Ponnapati ◽  
Christian Kramme ◽  
Alexandru M. Plesa ◽  
George M. Church ◽  
...  

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has elicited a global health crisis of catastrophic proportions. With only a few vaccines approved for early or limited use, there is a critical need for effective antiviral strategies. In this study, we report a unique antiviral platform, through computational design of ACE2-derived peptides which both target the viral spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and recruit E3 ubiquitin ligases for subsequent intracellular degradation of SARS-CoV-2 in the proteasome. Our engineered peptide fusions demonstrate robust RBD degradation capabilities in human cells and are capable of inhibiting infection-competent viral production, thus prompting their further experimental characterization and therapeutic development.


Author(s):  
Ortensia Ilaria Parisi ◽  
Marco Dattilo ◽  
Francesco Patitucci ◽  
Rocco Malivindi ◽  
Vincenzo Pezzi ◽  
...  

Summary of the ideaOur idea is focused on the development of “monoclonal-type” plastic antibodies based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) able to selectively bind a portion of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to block its function and, thus, the infection process. Molecular Imprinting, indeed, represents a very promising and attractive technology for the synthesis of MIPs characterized by specific recognition abilities for a target molecule. Given these characteristics, MIPs can be considered tailor-made synthetic antibodies obtained by a templating process.In the present study, the developed imprinted polymeric nanoparticles were characterized in terms of particles size and distribution by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and the imprinting effect and selectivity were investigated by performing binding experiments using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the novel coronavirus and the RBD of SARS-CoV spike protein, respectively. Finally, the hemocompatibility of the prepared MIP-based plastic antibodies was also evaluated.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vince St. Dollente Mesias ◽  
Hongni Zhu ◽  
Xiao Tang ◽  
Xin Dai ◽  
Yusong Guo ◽  
...  

The infection of coronavirus initiates with the binding between its spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and a human cellular receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Here, we construct truncated...


mSphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Byrnes ◽  
Xin X. Zhou ◽  
Irene Lui ◽  
Susanna K. Elledge ◽  
Jeff E. Glasgow ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT As severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread around the world, there is an urgent need for new assay formats to characterize the humoral response to infection. Here, we present an efficient, competitive serological assay that can simultaneously determine an individual’s seroreactivity against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and determine the proportion of anti-Spike antibodies that block interaction with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) required for viral entry. In this approach based on the use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), we present natively folded viral Spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD)-containing antigens via avidin-biotin interactions. Sera are then competed with soluble ACE2-Fc, or with a higher-affinity variant thereof, to determine the proportion of ACE2 blocking anti-RBD antibodies. Assessment of sera from 144 SARS-CoV-2 patients ultimately revealed that a remarkably consistent and high proportion of antibodies in the anti-RBD pool targeted the epitope responsible for ACE2 engagement (83% ± 11%; 50% to 107% signal inhibition in our largest cohort), further underscoring the importance of tailoring vaccines to promote the development of such antibodies. IMPORTANCE With the emergence and continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and of the associated disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there is an urgent need for improved understanding of how the body mounts an immune response to the virus. Here, we developed a competitive SARS-CoV-2 serological assay that can simultaneously determine whether an individual has developed antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) and measure the proportion of these antibodies that block interaction with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) required for viral entry. Using this assay and 144 SARS-CoV-2 patient serum samples, we found that a majority of anti-RBD antibodies compete for ACE2 binding. These results not only highlight the need to design vaccines to generate such blocking antibodies but also demonstrate the utility of this assay to rapidly screen patient sera for potentially neutralizing antibodies.


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