Title
Uncaria tomentosa (cat’s claw): a promising herbal medicine against SARS-CoV-2/ACE-2 junction and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein based on molecular modeling
Date Issued
01 January 2022
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Taylor and Francis Ltd.
Abstract
COVID-19 is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Currently, there is no effective treatment and vaccines seem to be the solution in the future. Virtual screening of potential drugs against the S protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has provided small molecular compounds with a high binding affinity. Unfortunately, most of these drugs do not attach with the binding interface of the receptor-binding domain (RBD)–angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) complex in host cells. Molecular modeling was carried out to evaluate the potential antiviral properties of the components of the medicinal herb Uncaria tomentosa (cat’s claw) focusing on the binding interface of the RBD–ACE-2 and the viral spike protein. The in silico approach starts with protein–ligand docking of 26 Cat’s claw key components followed by molecular dynamics simulations and re-docked calculations. Finally, we carried out drug-likeness calculations for the most qualified cat’s claw components. The structural bioinformatics approaches led to the identification of several bioactive compounds of U. tomentosa with potential therapeutic effect by dual strong interaction with interface of the RBD–ACE-2 and the ACE-2 binding site on SARS-CoV-2 RBD viral spike. In addition, in silico drug-likeness indices for these components were calculated and showed good predicted therapeutic profiles of these phytochemicals found in U. tomentosa (cat’s claw). Our findings suggest the potential effectiveness of cat’s claw as complementary and/or alternative medicine for COVID-19 treatment. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Start page
2227
End page
2243
Volume
40
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Epidemiología Otras ciencias médicas Enfermedades infecciosas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85094639035
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics
ISSN of the container
07391102
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus