Broad-spectrum antivirals of protoporphyrins inhibit the entry of highly pathogenic emerging viruses.

ABSTRACT: Severe emerging and re-emerging viral infections such as Lassa fever, Avian influenza (AI), and COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 urgently call for new strategies for the development of broad-spectrum antivirals targeting conserved components in the virus life cycle. Viral lipids are essential components, and viral-cell membrane fusion is the required entry step for most unrelated enveloped viruses. In this paper, we identified a porphyrin derivative of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) that showed broad antiviral activities in vitro against a panel of enveloped pathogenic viruses including Lassa virus (LASV), Machupo virus (MACV), and SARS-CoV-2 as well as various subtypes of influenza A viral strains with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.91 ± 0.25 μM to 1.88 ± 0.34 μM. A mechanistic study using

SUBMITTER: Lu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7784547 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature