Synthesis and Characterization of a Minophosphonate Containing Chitosan Polymer Derivatives: Investigations of Cytotoxic Activity and in Silico Study of SARS-CoV-19

Chitosan is broadly used as a biological material since of its excellent biological activities. This work describes investigations of chitosan interaction with SARS-CoV-2, which is occupied by human respiratory epithelial cells through communication with the human angiotension-converting enzyme II (ACE2). The beta-chitosan derivatives are synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1 and C-13 NMR), mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, TGA, DSC, and elemental analysis. The beta-chitosan derivatives were screened for cytotoxic activity against the HepG2 and MCF-7 (breast) cancer cell lines. Compound 1h (GI(50) 0.02 mu M) is moderately active against the HepG2 cancer cell line, and Compound 1c is highly active (GI(50) 0.01 mu M) against the MCF-7 cancer cell line. In addition, chitosan derivatives (1a-1j) docking against the SARS coronavirus are found by in-silico docking analysis. The findings show that compound 1c exhibits notable inhibition ability compared with other compounds, with a binding energy value of -7.9 kcal/mol. Based on the molecular docking results, the chitosan analog is proposed to be an alternative antiviral agent for SARS-CoV2.

Automated summary

Chitosan was investigated for its interaction with SARS-CoV-2, with beta-chitosan derivatives synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines. In addition, docking analysis showed that compound 1c exhibited notable inhibition ability against the SARS coronavirus, suggesting it as a potential alternative antiviral agent for SARS-CoV-2.