Virtual Screening for SARS-COV-2 Entry Inhibitors by Dual Targeting of TMPRSS2 and CTSL
Ian Lemuel Sigue Virtucio, Jervee Malabanan Punzalan, Junie B. Billones · Pharmacophore · 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic remains to be a global public health crisis due to the emergence of new variants of concern and the scarcity of drug treatments. The cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 requires activation of its spike protein by host proteases TMPRSS2 and CTSL, which triggers membrane fusion and facilitates the endocytic uptake mechanism, respectively. This study employed a structure-based virtual screening technique to identify drugs and natural products that simultaneously target TMPRSS2 and CTSL.