Abstract
The ongoing pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 human coronavirus (HCoV), has brought the international scientific community before a state of emergency that needs to be addressed with intensive research for the discovery of pharmacological agents with antiviral activity. Potential antiviral natural products (NPs) have been discovered from plants of the global biodiversity, including extracts, compounds and categories of compounds with activity against several viruses of the respiratory tract such as HCoVs. However, the scarcity of natural products (NPs) and small-molecules (SMs) used as antiviral agents, especially for HCoVs, is notable. This is a review of 203 publications, which were selected using PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, evaluates the available literature since the discovery of the first human coronavirus in the 1960s; it summarizes important aspects of structure, function, and therapeutic targeting of HCoVs as well as NPs (19 total plant extracts and 204 isolated or semi-synthesized pure compounds) with anti-HCoV activity targeting viral and non-viral proteins, while focusing on the advances on the discovery of NPs with anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, and providing a critical perspective.
Highlights
Coronaviruses (CoVs), are enveloped, positive strand RNA viruses, with a genome of27–33 kb, the largest in all RNA viruses
natural products (NPs) chemistry (fastkingdom identification, fast to chemical in silico chemistry and ing) and biological evaluation (high throughput in vitro screening assays, live infection biological provide throughput genomics and proteomics of host’s response to infection) provide ample means ample means to explore plant biodiversity for discovery and/or development of natural products/small molecules (NPs/SMs) to explore plant biodiversity for discovery and/or development of NPs/SMs that can help that can help cope with COVID-19 and here we summarize the efforts accomplished up cope with COVID-19 and here we summarize the efforts accomplished up to date
It is indicative that antiviral NP research has peaked only around imminent threats, as happened with
Summary
Coronaviruses (CoVs), are enveloped, positive strand RNA viruses, with a genome of. 27–33 kb, the largest in all RNA viruses. The genomic sequences of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are 79.6% identical and their half-lives in aerosols and in Molecules 2021, 26, 448 lion deaths since the onset of the disease on 12 December 2019 [5,6]. The genomic sequences of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are 79.6% identical and their half-lives in aerosols and in plastic, metal and cardboard surfaces are reportedly similar [5,7]. The contagiousness of the virus renders its containment difficult and difficult and the demand for prophylactic and therapeutic agents an utmost necessity that the demand for prophylactic and therapeutic agents an utmost necessity that drives the drives the scientific community in a massive screening effort.
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