Crude Fucus vesiculosus fucoidan demonstrates superior SARS-CoV-2 antiviral activity compared to its pure form: binding kinetics and functional studies

Fucoidans have been widely reported to show SARS-CoV-2 antiviral activity. In this study, we observed a striking difference in the inhibitory potency between two commercially available fucoidans: Fucus vesiculosus crude (Fvc) and pure (Fvp). SEC-MALS analysis revealed two molecular weight populations for Fvc (1098 kDa, 58.58 kDa) and one for Fvp (40.48 kDa). At micromolar concentrations of fucoidans, the binding affinities (KDs) of Fvc_1098 (223 nM) and Fvc_58 (4.27 μM) for the amine-biotinylated SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) were higher than that of Fvp (76.5 μM). At nanomolar concentrations, binding was observed only to the Avi-tag-, but not amine-biotinylated RBDs, suggesting better accessibility of their binding sites. The association rates (k_on) were faster for Fvc than for Fvp. Similarly, affinities of Fvc_1098 (23.4 nM) and Fvc_58 (4.48 μM) for ACE2 were greater than that of Fvp (66.8 μM), indicating that Fvc can bind directly to both RBD and ACE2. Fvc demonstrated enhanced inhibitory potency (IC50 = 58 μg/mL) compared to Fvp (IC50 > 239 μg/mL) in the pseudovirus entry assay and did not induce cytotoxicity in HEK293T cells. In conclusion, crude fucoidan with high fucose content and high molecular weight shows promising antiviral activity.