Antiviral activity of chitosan nanoparticles encapsulating silymarin (Sil-CNPs) against SARS-CoV-2 (in silico and in vitro study).

ABSTRACT: To develop a specific treatment against COVID-19, we investigated silymarin-chitosan nanoparticles (Sil-CNPs) as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 using in silico and in vitro approaches. Docking of Sil and CNPs was carried out against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using AutoDock Vina. CNPs and Sil-CNPs were prepared by the ionic gelation method and characterized by TEM, FT-IR, zeta analysis, and the membrane diffusion method to determine the drug release profile. Cytotoxicity was tested on both Vero and Vero E6 cell lines using the MTT assay. Minimum binding energies with spike protein and ACE2 were -6.6, and -8.0 kcal mol^-1 for CNPs, and -8.9, and -9.7 kcal mol^-1 for Sil, respectively, compared to -6.6 and -8.4 kcal mol^-1 respectively for rem

SUBMITTER: Loutfy SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9132606 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature