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Review
. 2020 Oct;43(5):414-423.
doi: 10.1016/j.bj.2020.08.006. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

Valinomycin as a potential antiviral agent against coronaviruses: A review

Dong Zhang  1 , Zhi Ma  1 , Hanchi Chen  1 , Yuele Lu  2 , Xiaolong Chen  3
Affiliations
Review

Valinomycin as a potential antiviral agent against coronaviruses: A review

Dong Zhang et al. Biomed J. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have been resulting in global epidemics with heavy morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, there are currently no specific medicines that can better treat these coronaviruses. Drug repurposing is an effective and economical strategy for drug discovery from existing drugs, natural products, and synthetic compounds. In this review, the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of valinomycin (VAL), especially its activity against coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43), were summarized, it highlights that VAL has tremendous potential for use as a novel antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: Antiviral agent; Coronavirus; Drug repurposing; SARS-CoV-2; Valinomycin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest The authors have declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Proposed pathway for the biosynthesis of valinomycin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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