Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Combined Effects of Drugs: Synergism

Combined Effects of Drugs: Synergism

Synergism is a useful mechanism where combining two or more drugs is more effective than each constituent used alone. Such combinations are also called supra-additive interactions. The drugs collectively enhance the final therapeutic effect by acting on different targets. Another advantage is that the low dose of each constituent drug is sufficient to achieve the desired effect. This helps reduce the duration of therapy and lower the adverse effects of these drugs.
Such synergistic combinations...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

In-depth characterization of the Ca<sub>V</sub>2.2-knockout mouse line.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Inhibition of Chikungunya virus nsP2 protease in vitro by scorpion venom peptide pantinin-1.

PloS one·2026

Same author

The Proteome of Human Amyloid Beta Oligomers.

Biochemistry·2026

Same author

The importin-alpha superfamily engages in ethylene signaling by shuttling ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE 2 from the endoplasmic reticulum to the nucleus.

The FEBS journal·2025

Same author

STINGAllo: a web server for high-throughput prediction of allosteric site-forming residues using internal protein nanoenvironment descriptors.

Briefings in bioinformatics·2025

Same author

Mapping the Path to Cryogenic Atom Probe Tomography Analysis of Biomolecules.

Microscopy and microanalysis : the official journal of Microscopy Society of America, Microbeam Analysis Society, Microscopical Society of Canada·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2

Published on: November 5, 2021

The Repurposed Drugs Suramin and Quinacrine Cooperatively Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 3CL^pro In Vitro.

Raphael J Eberle^1,2, Danilo S Olivier³, Marcos S Amaral⁴

¹Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany.

|June 2, 2021

Summary

Repurposing the antiparasitic drugs quinacrine and suramin showed synergistic potential against SARS-CoV-2 main protease (3CLpro). This combination therapy offers a promising alternative for treating COVID-19 infections.

Keywords:

3CLpro COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 main protease quinacrine repurposing approved drugs suramin

More Related Videos

Use of Viral Entry Assays and Molecular Docking Analysis for the Identification of Antiviral Candidates against Coxsackievirus A16

Use of Viral Entry Assays and Molecular Docking Analysis for the Identification of Antiviral Candidates against Coxsackievirus A16

Published on: July 15, 2019

High-throughput Confocal Imaging of Quantum Dot-Conjugated SARS-CoV-2 Spike Trimers to Track Binding and Endocytosis in HEK293T Cells

High-throughput Confocal Imaging of Quantum Dot-Conjugated SARS-CoV-2 Spike Trimers to Track Binding and Endocytosis in HEK293T Cells

Published on: April 21, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2

Live Imaging and Quantification of Viral Infection in K18 hACE2 Transgenic Mice Using Reporter-Expressing Recombinant SARS-CoV-2

Published on: November 5, 2021

Use of Viral Entry Assays and Molecular Docking Analysis for the Identification of Antiviral Candidates against Coxsackievirus A16

Use of Viral Entry Assays and Molecular Docking Analysis for the Identification of Antiviral Candidates against Coxsackievirus A16

Published on: July 15, 2019

High-throughput Confocal Imaging of Quantum Dot-Conjugated SARS-CoV-2 Spike Trimers to Track Binding and Endocytosis in HEK293T Cells

High-throughput Confocal Imaging of Quantum Dot-Conjugated SARS-CoV-2 Spike Trimers to Track Binding and Endocytosis in HEK293T Cells

Published on: April 21, 2022

Area of Science:

Virology and Drug Discovery
Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has led to millions of deaths globally.
Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants necessitate alternative therapeutic strategies beyond existing vaccines and emergency drugs.
Drug repurposing, particularly of antiparasitic agents, presents a viable approach to identify novel antiviral compounds.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the inhibitory potential of quinacrine and suramin against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (3CLpro).
To explore the synergistic efficacy of combining quinacrine and suramin for potential COVID-19 treatment.

Main Methods:

In vitro enzyme inhibition assays to determine IC50 values for quinacrine and suramin.
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) to analyze binding kinetics and affinity with SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro.
Molecular docking and dynamics simulations to elucidate binding modes and interactions.

Main Results:

Quinacrine and suramin demonstrated inhibitory potential against SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro with low micromolar IC50 values.
Quinacrine exhibited competitive inhibition, while suramin showed non-competitive inhibition.
Suramin significantly enhanced quinacrine's binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro by approximately eightfold.
Synergistic inhibitory effects were observed when quinacrine and suramin were used in combination.

Conclusions:

Quinacrine and suramin, when combined, exhibit promising synergistic efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro.
This drug combination represents a potential therapeutic strategy for COVID-19 treatment.
Repurposed drug candidates offer rapid development pathways for novel antiviral therapies, especially during pandemics.