Assessing the inhibitory effects of some secondary amines, thioureas and 1,3-dimethyluracil conjugates of (-)-cytisine and thermopsine on the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.

SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe, including pneumonia and death. This beta coronavirus has a 30-kilobase RNA genome and shares about 80 % of its nucleotide sequence with SARS-CoV-1. The replication/transcription complex, essential for viral RNA synthesis, includes RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp, nsp12) enhanced by nsp7 and nsp8. Antivirals like molnupiravir and remdesivir, which are RdRp inhibitors, treat severe COVID-19 but have limitations, highlighting the need for new therapies. This study assessed (-)-cytisine, methylcytisine, and thermopsine derivatives against SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, focusing on their RdRp inhibition. Selected compounds from a previous study were evaluated using a SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase assay kit to investigate their structure-activity relationships. Compound 17 (1,3-dimethyluracil conjugate with (-)-cytisine and thermopsine) emerged as a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 RdRp, with an IC50 value of 7.8 μM against SARS-CoV-2 RdRp. It showed a dose-dependent reduction in cytopathic effects in cells infected with SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 replicon-based single-round infectious particles (SRIPs) and significantly inhibited SARS-CoV N protein expression, with EC50 values of 0.12 µM for SARS-CoV-1 and 1.47 µM for SARS-CoV-2 SRIPs. Additionally, compound 17 reduced viral subgenomic RNA levels in a concentration-dependent manner in SRIP-infected cells. The structure-activity relationships of compound 17 with SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 RdRp were also investigated, highlighting it as a promising lead for developing antiviral agents against SARS and COVID-19.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.