Interactions of ED Compound with some Spike Protein Variants of SARS-CoV-2

Humanity has suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, and there are different therapeutic targets for developing treatments. The SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein is considered a potential target for drug development because its interaction with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) cell-surface receptor represents the initial condition for the onset of the infection. Developing new drugs using the spike protein (S-protein) as a target is challenging since many of its mutants have appeared. In this study, we analyzed the interactions of ED compounds, which have been reported to hamper the interaction between S-protein and ACE2. This study proposes the potential development of a new drug directed to avoid the interaction between ACE2 and the Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2, which can be used as an adjuvant against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The ED compound was tested in S-protein recombinant of WT, Alpha, and Beta variants of SARS-CoV-2, and the results showed an interaction of ED compound in the RBD of each S-protein. Also, ED compound could be safe to use as a drug in humans since it showed an acceptable LD50 value (500mg/kg). Therefore, these results are an important contribution to developing new drugs to attend to this kind of virus.