- Oh, Chang-ki;
- Nakamura, Tomohiro;
- Beutler, Nathan;
- Zhang, Xu;
- Piña-Crespo, Juan;
- Talantova, Maria;
- Ghatak, Swagata;
- Trudler, Dorit;
- Carnevale, Lauren N;
- McKercher, Scott R;
- Bakowski, Malina A;
- Diedrich, Jolene K;
- Roberts, Amanda J;
- Woods, Ashley K;
- Chi, Victor;
- Gupta, Anil K;
- Rosenfeld, Mia A;
- Kearns, Fiona L;
- Casalino, Lorenzo;
- Shaabani, Namir;
- Liu, Hejun;
- Wilson, Ian A;
- Amaro, Rommie E;
- Burton, Dennis R;
- Yates, John R;
- Becker, Cyrus;
- Rogers, Thomas F;
- Chatterjee, Arnab K;
- Lipton, Stuart A
Prevention of infection and propagation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a high priority in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Here we describe S-nitrosylation of multiple proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection, including angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the receptor for viral entry. This reaction prevents binding of ACE2 to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, thereby inhibiting viral entry, infectivity and cytotoxicity. Aminoadamantane compounds also inhibit coronavirus ion channels formed by envelope (E) protein. Accordingly, we developed dual-mechanism aminoadamantane nitrate compounds that inhibit viral entry and, thus, the spread of infection by S-nitrosylating ACE2 via targeted delivery of the drug after E protein channel blockade. These non-toxic compounds are active in vitro and in vivo in the Syrian hamster COVID-19 model and, thus, provide a novel avenue to pursue therapy.