Cell Reports (Apr 2021)

Antiviral drug screen identifies DNA-damage response inhibitor as potent blocker of SARS-CoV-2 replication

  • Gustavo Garcia, Jr.,
  • Arun Sharma,
  • Arunachalam Ramaiah,
  • Chandani Sen,
  • Arunima Purkayastha,
  • Donald B. Kohn,
  • Mark S. Parcells,
  • Sebastian Beck,
  • Heeyoung Kim,
  • Malina A. Bakowski,
  • Melanie G. Kirkpatrick,
  • Laura Riva,
  • Karen C. Wolff,
  • Brandon Han,
  • Constance Yuen,
  • David Ulmert,
  • Prabhat K. Purbey,
  • Phillip Scumpia,
  • Nathan Beutler,
  • Thomas F. Rogers,
  • Arnab K. Chatterjee,
  • Gülsah Gabriel,
  • Ralf Bartenschlager,
  • Brigitte Gomperts,
  • Clive N. Svendsen,
  • Ulrich A.K. Betz,
  • Robert D. Damoiseaux,
  • Vaithilingaraja Arumugaswami

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35, no. 1
p. 108940

Abstract

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Summary: SARS-CoV-2 has currently precipitated the COVID-19 global health crisis. We developed a medium-throughput drug-screening system and identified a small-molecule library of 34 of 430 protein kinase inhibitors that were capable of inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 cytopathic effect in human epithelial cells. These drug inhibitors are in various stages of clinical trials. We detected key proteins involved in cellular signaling pathways mTOR-PI3K-AKT, ABL-BCR/MAPK, and DNA-damage response that are critical for SARS-CoV-2 infection. A drug-protein interaction-based secondary screen confirmed compounds, such as the ATR kinase inhibitor berzosertib and torin2 with anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. Berzosertib exhibited potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in multiple cell types and blocked replication at the post-entry step. Berzosertib inhibited replication of SARS-CoV-1 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) as well. Our study highlights key promising kinase inhibitors to constrain coronavirus replication as a host-directed therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 and beyond as well as provides an important mechanism of host-pathogen interactions.

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