A Highly Potent SARS-CoV-2 Blocking Lectin Protein
Recep E. Ahan, Alireza Hanifehnezhad, Ebru Ş. Kehribar, Tuba C. Oguzoglu, Katalin Földes, Cemile E. Özçelik, Nazlican Filazi, Sıdıka Öztop, Fahreddin Palaz, Sevgen Önder, Eray U. Bozkurt, Koray Ergünay, Aykut Özkul, Urartu Özgür Şafak Şeker
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-19) pandemic affected more than 180 million people around the globe, causing more than five million deaths as of January 2022. SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), the new coronavirus, has been identified as the primary cause of the infection. The number of vaccinated people is increasing; however, prophylactic drugs are highly demanded to ensure secure social contact. A number of drug molecules have been repurposed to fight against SARS-CoV-2, and some of them have been proven to be effective in preventing hospitalization or ICU admissions. Here, we demonstrated griffithsin (GRFT), a lectin protein, to block the entry of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, Delta and Omicron, into the Vero E6 cell lines and IFNAR –/– mouse models by attaching to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Given the current mutation frequency of SARS-CoV-2, we believe that GRFT protein-based drugs will have a high impact in preventing the transmission of both the Wuhan strain as well as any other emerging variants, including Delta and Omicron variants, causing the high-speed spread of COVID-19.