Antiviral Herbal Compounds for SARS-CoV Ion Channels
(From Potential Antiviral Agents for Coronaviruses: Compounds, Herbal Products, and Drug Targets)
- The protein coded by the open-reading-frame 3a of SARS coronavirus may form a cation-selective channel (Schwarz et al., 2014).
- The channel is important in virus release.
- Drugs that suppress the ion channel may suppress virus release.
- Many herbal products with anticancer effects may also have antiviral activities.
- Such herbal products include the flavonols kaempferol, kaempferol glycosides, and acylated kaempferol glucoside derivatives.
- These herbal products may block the 3a channel.
- The most effective one may be the glycoside juglanin (with an arabinose residue) for blocking the 3a-mediated current.
- Kaempferol derivatives with rhamnose residue may also have antiviral effects (Schwarz et al., 2014).
- Coronaviral ion channels can be antiviral drug targets, e.g., the 3a channel proteins may be inhibited by kaempferol glycosides.
References:
Schwarz, S., Sauter, D., Wang, K., Zhang, R., Sun, B., Karioti, A., Bilia, A. R., Efferth, T., & Schwarz, W. (2014). Kaempferol derivatives as antiviral drugs against the 3a channel protein of coronavirus. Planta Medica, 80(2–3), 177–182.
