Carica papaya Leaf Extract Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Main Proteases but not Human TMPRSS2: An In-vitro and In-silico Study

TL;DR

This study shows that Carica papaya leaf extract inhibits key SARS-CoV-2 proteases in vitro and in silico, suggesting its potential as a herbal antiviral agent against COVID-19.

Contribution

It is the first to demonstrate that CP leaf extract inhibits SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro and PLpro enzymes and identifies active compounds with strong binding affinity.

Findings

CP extract inhibits 3CLpro and PLpro with low IC50 values

Two compounds in the extract show strong binding affinity to viral proteases

CP extract does not inhibit human TMPRSS2

Abstract

Carica papaya (CP) leaf is long known for its traditional pharmacological effects against dengue virus and malaria. Therefore, CP could also be a potential solution for the treatment of other infectious diseases, such as coronavirus. In this study, we evaluate the potential effect of the ethanolic CP leaf extract in inhibiting the enzymatic activity of three protein targets in SARS-CoV-2 life cycle, which include the 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), papain-like protease (PLpro) and the human transmembrane protein serine 2 (TMPRSS2). Results demonstrate that CP leaf extract inhibits 3CLpro and PLpro significantly with IC50 of 0.02 microgram/mL and 0.06 microgram/mL, respectively, but it is inactive towards TMPRSS2. Phenol, 2-methyl-5-(1,2,2-trimethylcyclopentyl)-(S)- (17a) and beta-mannofuranoside, farnesyl- (21a) were identified in the extract using GC-MS. These two compounds demonstrated a stronger binding affinity towards the main proteases than TMPRSS2 during the docking simulation, which agrees with the in-vitro study. Further pharmacophore mapping suggests that 17a has a fit score higher than 21a to the SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro pharmacophore model concluding that CP leaf extract has the potential to be developed as a herbal SARS-CoV-2 antiviral agent.