Razi N, Li W, Ignacio MA, Loube JM, Agostino EL, Zhu X, Scull MA, DeStefano JJ. Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human airway epithelium with a xeno-nucleic acid aptamer.
Respir Res 2023;
24:272. [PMID:
37932762 PMCID:
PMC10629106 DOI:
10.1186/s12931-023-02590-4]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
SARS-CoV-2, the agent responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, enters cells through viral spike glycoprotein binding to the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Given the lack of effective antivirals targeting SARS-CoV-2, we previously utilized systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) and selected fluoro-arabino nucleic acid (FANA) aptamer R8-9 that was able to block the interaction between the viral receptor-binding domain and ACE2.
METHODS
Here, we further assessed FANA-R8-9 as an entry inhibitor in contexts that recapitulate infection in vivo.
RESULTS
We demonstrate that FANA-R8-9 inhibits spike-bearing pseudovirus particle uptake in cell lines. Then, using an in-vitro model of human airway epithelium (HAE) and SARS-CoV-2 virus, we show that FANA-R8-9 significantly reduces viral infection when added either at the time of inoculation, or several hours later. These results were specific to the R8-9 sequence, not the xeno-nucleic acid utilized to make the aptamer. Importantly, we also show that FANA-R8-9 is stable in HAE culture secretions and has no overt cytotoxic effects.
CONCLUSIONS
Together, these results suggest that FANA-R8-9 effectively prevents infection by specific SARS-CoV-2 variants and indicate that aptamer technology could be utilized to target other clinically-relevant viruses in the respiratory mucosa.
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