RESUMO
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has been a crisis of global health, whereas the effective vaccines against 2019-nCoV are still under development. Alternatively, utilization of old drugs or available medicine that can suppress the viral activity or replication may provide an urgent solution to suppress the rapid spread of 2019-nCoV. Andrographolide is a highly abundant natural product of the medicinal plant, Andrographis paniculata, which has been clinically used for inflammatory diseases and anti-viral therapy. We herein demonstrate that both andrographolide and its fluorescent derivative, the nitrobenzoxadiazole-conjugated andrographolide (Andro- NBD), suppressed the main protease (Mpro) activities of 2019-nCoV and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Moreover, Andro-NBD was shown to covalently link its fluorescence to these proteases. Further mass spectrometry (MS) analysis suggests that andrographolide formed a covalent bond with the active site Cys145 of either 2019-nCoV Mpro or SARS-CoV Mpro. Consistently, molecular modeling analysis supported the docking of andrographolide within the catalytic pockets of both viral Mpros. Considering that andrographolide is used in clinical practice with acceptable safety and its diverse pharmacological activities that could be beneficial for attenuating COVID-19 symptoms, extensive investigation of andrographolide on the suppression of 2019-nCoV as well as its application in COVID-19 therapy is suggested.
Assuntos
Cisteína Endopeptidases/metabolismo , Diterpenos/farmacologia , Inibidores de Proteases/química , Inibidores de Proteases/farmacologia , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/antagonistas & inibidores , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/metabolismo , Betacoronavirus/enzimologia , Domínio Catalítico , Proteases 3C de Coronavírus , Cisteína Endopeptidases/química , Diterpenos/química , Corantes Fluorescentes/química , Corantes Fluorescentes/farmacologia , Simulação de Acoplamento Molecular , Conformação Proteica , Multimerização Proteica , Coronavírus Relacionado à Síndrome Respiratória Aguda Grave/enzimologia , SARS-CoV-2 , Proteínas não Estruturais Virais/químicaRESUMO
Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is clinically treated with imatinib, which inhibits the kinase activity of the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein. However, imatinib resistance remains a common clinical issue. Andrographolide, the major compound of the medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata, was reported to exhibit anticancer activity. In this study, we explored the therapeutic potential of andrographolide and its derivative, NCTU-322, against both imatinib-sensitive and imatinib-resistant human CML cell lines. Both andrographolide and NCTU-322 downregulated the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein in imatinib-resistant CML cells through an Hsp90-dependent mechanism similar to that observed in imatinib-sensitive CML cells. In addition, NCTU-322 had stronger effects than andrographolide on downregulation of Bcr-Abl oncoprotein, induction of Hsp90 cleavage and cytotoxicity of CML cells. Notably, andrographolide and NCTU-322 could induce differentiation, mitotic arrest and apoptosis of both imatinib-sensitive and imatinib-resistant CML cells. Finally, the anticancer activity of NCTU-322 against imatinib-resistant CML cells was demonstrated in vivo. In summary, our data demonstrated that andrographolide and NCTU-322 inhibit Bcr-abl function via a mechanism different from that of imatinib, and they induced multiple anticancer effects in both imatinib-sensitive and resistant CML cells. Our findings demonstrate that andrographolide and NCTU-322 are potential therapeutic agents again CML.