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p38 MAPK Inhibitor SB203580 Suppresses SARS-CoV-2 Replication

PRIYASI MITTAL, NITIN KHANDELWAL, YOGESH CHANDER, ASSIM VERMA, RAM KUMAR, CHAYANIKA PUTATUNDA, SANJAY BARUA, NAVEEN KUMAR AND BALDEV RAJ GULATI*
Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar-125 001 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail: brgulati@gmail.com;Mobile:9416650040)
(Received: July 20, 2023; Accepted: August 29, 2023)

ABSTRACT

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulted in loss of 6.95 million of human lives. Although vaccines to induce immune-prophylaxis against COVID-19 have been developed, there is no specific antiviral drug to treat COVID-19. A library of small molecule chemical inhibitors was screened comprising the inhibitors targeting cellular kinases and phosphatases, and identified SB203580 [an inhibitor of p38 mitogen activated kinase (p38 MAPK)] as one of the hits against SARS-CoV-2. The non-cytotoxic dose (8μg/ml) of SB203580 significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 titre ( log2 fold) in absence of any virucidal activity. This study identified p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 as a potential host-directed antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2.
Key words : SARS-CoV-2, p38 MAP Kinase, SB203580, antiviral efficacy, virucidal