Identification of drugs targeting multiple viral and human proteins using computational analysis for repurposing against COVID-19

Abstract

The SARS-CoV2 is a highly contagious pathogen that causes COVID-19 disease. It has affected millions of people globally with an average lethality of ~3%. Unfortunately, there is no standard cure for the disease, although some drugs are under clinical trial. Thus, there is an urgent need of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. In the current studies, we have used state of the art bioinformatics techniques to screen the FDA approved drugs against nine SARS-CoV2 proteins to identify drugs for quick repurposing. The strategy was to identify potential drugs that can target multiple viral proteins simultaneously. Additionally, we analyzed if the identified molecules can also affect the human proteins whose expression is differentially modulated during SARS-CoV2 infection. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) as a result of SARS-CoV2 infection were identified using NCBI-GEO data (GEO-ID: GSE-147507). Targeting such genes may also be a beneficial strategy to curb disease manifestation. We have identified 74 molecules that can bind to various SARS-CoV2 and human host proteins. Their possible use in COVID-19 have also been reviewed in detail. We hope that this study will help development of multipotent drugs, simultaneously targeting the viral and host proteins, for the treatment of COVID-19.