Naphthoquine: A Potent Broad-Spectrum Anti-Coronavirus Drug In Vitro

Yabin Song; Yongqiang Deng; Huiqiang Wang; Zhuchun Bei; Hongjing Gu; Hui Zhao; Hong Wang; Dongna Zhang; Likun Xu; Baogang Wang; Yuhuan Li; Hongquan Wang

doi:10.3390/molecules27030712

Molecules (Jan 2022)

Naphthoquine: A Potent Broad-Spectrum Anti-Coronavirus Drug In Vitro

Yabin Song,
Yongqiang Deng,
Huiqiang Wang,
Zhuchun Bei,
Hongjing Gu,
Hui Zhao,
Hong Wang,
Dongna Zhang,
Likun Xu,
Baogang Wang,
Yuhuan Li,
Hongquan Wang

Affiliations

Yabin Song: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Yongqiang Deng: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Huiqiang Wang: CAMS Key Laboratory of Antiviral Drug Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Antimicrobial Agents, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
Zhuchun Bei: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Hongjing Gu: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Hui Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Hong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Dongna Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Likun Xu: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Baogang Wang: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China
Yuhuan Li: CAMS Key Laboratory of Antiviral Drug Research, Beijing Key Laboratory of Antimicrobial Agents, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
Hongquan Wang: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27030712
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 27, no. 3
p. 712

Abstract

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COVID-19 has spread around the world and caused serious public health and social problems. Although several vaccines have been authorized for emergency use, new effective antiviral drugs are still needed. Some repurposed drugs including Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir were immediately used to treat COVID-19 after the pandemic. However, the therapeutic effects of these drugs have not been fully demonstrated in clinical studies. In this paper, we found an antimalarial drug, Naphthoquine, showed good broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus activity. Naphthoquineinhibited HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43 and SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro, with IC50 = 2.05 ± 1.44 μM, 5.83 ± 0.74 μM, and 2.01 ± 0.38 µM, respectively. Time-of-addition assay was also performed to explore at which stage Naphthoquine functions during SARS-CoV-2 replication. The results suggested that Naphthoquine may influence virus entry and post-entry replication. Considering the safety of Naphthoquine was even better than that of Chloroquine, we think Naphthoquine has the potential to be used as a broad-spectrum drug for coronavirus infection.

Published in Molecules

ISSN: 1420-3049 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules

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