Identifying the natural polyphenol catechin as a multi-targeted agent against SARS-CoV-2 for the plausible therapy of COVID-19: an integrated computational approach

The global pandemic crisis, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has claimed the lives of millions of people across the world. Development and testing of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs or vaccines have not turned to be realistic within the timeframe needed to combat this pandemic. Here, we report a comprehensive computational approach to identify the multi-targeted drug molecules against the SARS-CoV-2 proteins, whichare crucially involved in the viral-host interaction, replication of the virus inside the host, disease progression and transmission of coronavirus infection. Virtual screening of 75 FDA-approved potential antiviral drugs against the target proteins, spike (S) glycoprotein, human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2), 3-chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease (3CL(pro)), cathepsin L (CTSL), nucleocapsid protein, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and non-structural protein 6 (NSP6), resulted in the selection of seven drugs which preferentially bind to the target proteins. Further, the molecular interactions determined by molecular dynamics simulation revealed that among the 75 drug molecules, catechin can effectively bind to 3CL(pro), CTSL, RBD of S protein, NSP6 and nucleocapsid protein. It is more conveniently involved in key molecular interactions, showing binding free energy ( Delta G(bind)) in the range of -5.09 kcal/mol (CTSL) to -26.09 kcal/mol (NSP6). At the binding pocket, catechin is majorly stabilized by the hydrophobic interactions, displays Delta E-vdW values: -7.59 to -37.39 kcal/mol. Thus, the structural insights of better binding affinity and favorable molecular interaction of catechin toward multiple target proteins signify that catechin can be potentially explored as a multi-targeted agent against COVID-19.

Automated summary

The study identified seven drugs that preferentially bind to target proteins of SARS-CoV-2, among which catechin showed effective binding to multiple target proteins with favorable molecular interactions. The molecular dynamics simulations revealed the potential of catechin as a multi-targeted agent against COVID-19.