Molecular docking identification of plant-derived inhibitors of the COVID-19 main protease

Abstract

COVID-19 cases increase at a high rate and become dangerous in recent months. As a consequence, some healthcare and research organizations are attempting to find an effective cure for the COVID-19 outbreak. Many natural products have been reported to have powerful activity against COVID-19 in recent research studies. The primary aim of this article is to establish natural bioactive compounds with suitable antiviral properties. Lui et al. have reported in their study that SARS-Cov-2 main protease is present in a crystalline structure known as a novel therapeutic drug target. It is important to inhibit SARS-Cov-2 main protease to stop the replication of viral proteins. In this study natural compounds were screened using molecular modeling techniques to investigate probable bioactive compounds that block SARS-Cov-2. From these studies many natural compounds were found to have the potential to interact with viral proteins and show inhibitory activity against COVID-19 main protease (Mpro) and these natural compounds were also compared to known antiviral drugs such as Saquinavir and Remdesivir. Besides that, additional research is needed before these potential leads can be developed into natural therapeutic agents against COVID-19 to fight the epidemic.