Pharmacological Inhibition of Acid Sphingomyelinase Prevents Uptake of SARS-CoV-2 by Epithelial Cells.
Cell Rep Med
; 1(8): 100142, 2020 11 17.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33163980
ABSTRACT
The acid sphingomyelinase/ceramide system plays an important role in bacterial and viral infections. Here, we report that either pharmacological inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase with amitriptyline, imipramine, fluoxetine, sertraline, escitalopram, or maprotiline or genetic downregulation of the enzyme prevents infection of cultured cells or freshy isolated human nasal epithelial cells with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudoviral particles (pp-VSV) presenting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (pp-VSV-SARS-CoV-2 spike), a bona fide system mimicking SARS-CoV-2 infection. Infection activates acid sphingomyelinase and triggers a release of ceramide on the cell surface. Neutralization or consumption of surface ceramide reduces infection with pp-VSV-SARS-CoV-2 spike. Treating volunteers with a low dose of amitriptyline prevents infection of freshly isolated nasal epithelial cells with pp-VSV-SARS-CoV-2 spike. The data justify clinical studies investigating whether amitriptyline, a safe drug used clinically for almost 60 years, or other antidepressants that functionally block acid sphingomyelinase prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Esfingomielina Fosfodiesterasa
/
Células Epiteliales
/
SARS-CoV-2
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Cell Rep Med
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Alemania