An unexpected biomaterial against SARS-CoV-2: Bio-polyphosphate blocks binding of the viral spike to the cell receptor.

ABSTRACT: No other virus after the outbreak of the influenza pandemic of 1918 affected the world's population as hard as the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The identification of effective agents/materials to prevent or treat COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is an urgent global need. This review aims to survey novel strategies based on inorganic polyphosphate (polyP), a biologically formed but also synthetically available polyanionic polymeric material, which has the potential of being a potent inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 virus-cell-docking machinery. This virus attaches to the host cell surface receptor ACE2 with its receptor binding domain (RBD), which is present at the tips of the viral envelope spike proteins. On the surface of the RBD an unusually conserved cationic groove is exposed, which is composed of

SUBMITTER: Muller WEG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8326012 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature