Microscopic interactions between ivermectin and key human and viral proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection
Antonio Francés-Monerris, Cristina García-Iriepa, Isabel Iriepa, Cécilia Hognon, Tom Miclot, Giampaolo Barone, Antonio Monari, Marco Marazzi
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, doi:10.1039/d1cp02967c
The identification of chemical compounds able to bind specific sites of the human/viral proteins involved in the SARS-CoV-2 infection cycle is a prerequisite to design effective antiviral drugs. Here we conduct a molecular dynamics study with the aim to assess the interactions of ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug with broad-spectrum antiviral activity, with the human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the viral 3CL pro and PL pro proteases, and the viral SARS Unique Domain (SUD). The drug/target interactions have been characterized in silico by describing the nature of the non-covalent interactions found and by measuring the extent of their time duration along the MD simulation. Results reveal that the ACE2 protein and the ACE2/RBD aggregates form the most persistent interactions with ivermectin, while the binding with the remaining viral proteins is more limited and unspecific.
Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts to declare.
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