FDA-Approved Blood Thinner Could Be Used as Decoy to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 from Infecting Human Cells

Heparin, a blood thinner that has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), could effectively neutralize SARS-CoV-2 by acting as a decoy to prevent the virus from infecting human cells.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses a surface spike protein to latch onto human cells and initiate infection. However, heparin, a blood thinner which is also available in non-anticoagulant varieties, binds tightly with the surface spike protein, thus potentially blocking the infection from happening. This makes it a decoy, which might be introduced into the body using a nasal spray or nebulizer and run interference to lower the odds of infection. Similar decoy strategies have already shown promise in curbing other viruses, including influenza A, Zika, and dengue.

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY, USA) are now to working to develop a decoy strategy against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While reviewing sequencing data for SARS-CoV-2, the team recognized certain motifs on the spike protein and strongly suspected it would bind to heparin. In addition to the direct binding assay, the team tested how strongly three heparin variants, including a non-anticoagulant low molecular weight heparin, bind to SARS-CoV-2, and used computational modeling to determine the specific sites where the compounds bind to the virus. All the results confirm heparin as a promising candidate for the decoy strategy. The researchers have subsequently initiated work on assessments of antiviral activity and cytotoxicity in mammalian cells.

“This approach could be used as an early intervention to reduce the infection among people who have tested positive, but aren’t yet suffering symptoms. But we also see this as part of a larger antiviral strategy,” said Robert Linhardt, lead author and a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “Ultimately, we want a vaccine, but there are many ways to combat a virus, and as we’ve seen with HIV, with the right combination of therapies, we can control the disease until a vaccine is found.”

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