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KMID : 0620920210530050956
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Experimental & Molecular Medicine
2021 Volume.53 No. 5 p.956 ~ p.972
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Platycodin D, a natural component of Platycodon grandiflorum, prevents both lysosome- and TMPRSS2-driven SARS-CoV-2 infection by hindering membrane fusion
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Kim Tai-Young
Jeon Sang-Eun
Jang Young-Ho
Gotina Lizaveta
Won Joung-Ha
Ju Yeon-Ha
Kim Sun-Pil
Jang Min-Woo Wendy
Won Woo-Jin
Park Min-Gu Gordon
Pae Ae-Nim
Han Sun-Kyu
Kim Seung-Taek
Lee C. Justin
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Abstract
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An ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now the greatest threat to global public health. Herbal medicines and their derived natural products have drawn much attention in the treatment of COVID-19, but the detailed mechanisms by which natural products inhibit SARS-CoV-2 have not been elucidated. Here, we show that platycodin D (PD), a triterpenoid saponin abundant in Platycodon grandiflorum (PG), a dietary and medicinal herb commonly used in East Asia, effectively blocks the two main SARS-CoV-2 infection routes via lysosome- and transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2)-driven entry. Mechanistically, PD prevents host entry of SARS-CoV-2 by redistributing membrane cholesterol to prevent membrane fusion, which can be reinstated by treatment with a PD-encapsulating agent. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of PD are recapitulated by the pharmacological inhibition or gene silencing of NPC1, which is mutated in patients with Niemann?Pick type C (NPC) displaying disrupted membrane cholesterol distribution. Finally, readily available local foods or herbal medicines containing PG root show similar inhibitory effects against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our study proposes that PD is a potent natural product for preventing or treating COVID-19 and that briefly disrupting the distribution of membrane cholesterol is a potential novel therapeutic strategy for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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KEYWORD
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Lipid signalling, Viral infection
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