Rilpivirine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 protein targets: A potential multi-target drug

COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is lacking efficient medication although certain medications are used to relief its symptoms.

We tested an FDA-approved antiviral medication namely rilpivirine to find a drug against SARS-CoV-2.

The inhibition of rilpivirine against multiple SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic targets was studied using in silico method. The binding attraction of the protein-ligand complexes were calculated using molecular docking analysis.

Docking rilpivirine with main protease (Mpro), papin like protease (PLpro), sprike protein (Spro), human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2), and RNA dependent-RNA polymerase (RdRp) yielded binding energies of -8.07, -8.40, -7.55, -9.11, and -8.69 kcal/mol, respectively. The electrostatic interaction is the key force in stabilizing the RdRp-rilpivirine complex, while van der Waals interaction dominates in the ACE2 rilpivirine case. Our findings suggest that rilpivirine can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication by targeting not only ACE2, but also RdRp and other targets, and therefore, it can be used to invoke altered mechanisms at the pre-entry and post-entry phases.

As a result of our in silico molecular docking study, we suggest that rilpivirine is a compound that could act as a powerful inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 targets. Although in vitro and in vivo experiments are needed to verify this prediction we believe that this antiviral drug may be used in preclinical trials to fight against SARS coronavirus.