Volume 19, Issue 11 e202200266
Research Article

A Computational Insight on the Inhibitory Potential of 8-Hydroxydihydrosanguinarine (8-HDS), a Pyridone Containing Analog of Sanguinarine, against SARS CoV2**

Atala Bihari Jena

Atala Bihari Jena

Center of Excellence in Integrated Omics and Computational Biology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Odisha, India

Contributed equally.

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Namrata Kanungo

Namrata Kanungo

Department of Biotechnology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Odisha, India

Contributed equally.

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Gagan Bihari Nityananda Chainy

Gagan Bihari Nityananda Chainy

Department of Biotechnology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Odisha, India

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Vinod Devaraji

Vinod Devaraji

Computational Drug Design Lab, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014 Tamil Nadu, India

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Sudipta Kumar Das

Sudipta Kumar Das

Center of Excellence in Integrated Omics and Computational Biology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Odisha, India

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Jagneshwar Dandapat

Corresponding Author

Jagneshwar Dandapat

Center of Excellence in Integrated Omics and Computational Biology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Odisha, India

Department of Biotechnology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Odisha, India

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First published: 24 September 2022
Citations: 4
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Preprint information: ‘ResearchSquare’ (https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-153786/v1) ‘figshare’ (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14364368.v2).

Abstract

The unprecedented global pandemic of COVID-19 has created a daunting scenario urging an immediate generation of therapeutic strategy. Interventions to curb the spread of viral infection primarily include setting targets against the virus. Here in this study we target S protein to obstruct the viral attachment and entry and also the M pro to prevent the viral replication. For this purpose, the interaction of S protein and M pro with phytocompounds, sanguinarine and eugenol, and their derivatives were studied using computational tools. Docking studies gave evidence that 8-hydroxydihydrosanguinarine (8-HDS), a derivative of sanguinarine, showed maximum binding affinity with both the targets. The binding energies of the ligand with S protein and M pro scored to be ΔGb −9.4 Kcal/mol and ΔGb −10.3 Kcal/mol, respectively. MD simulation studies depict that the phytocompound could effectively cause structural perturbations in the targets which would affect their functions. 8-Hydroxydihydrosanguinarine distorts the α-helix in the secondary structure of M pro and RBD site of S protein. Protein-protein interaction study in presence of 8-hydroxydihydrosanguinarine also corroborate the above findings which indicate that this polyphenol interferes in the coupling of S protein and ACE2. The alterations in protonation of M pro suggest that the protein structure undergoes significant structural changes at neutral pH. ADME property of 8-hydroxydihydrosanguinarine indicates this could be a potential drug. This makes the phyto-alkaloid a possible therapeutic molecule for anti COVID-19 drug design.

Graphical Abstract

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Research Square, Figshare at ResearchSquare™ (https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-153786/v1) and in figshare™ (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14364368.v2), reference number 0.

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