A group from Institute of Virology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany, etc. has reported that WGA lectin could inhibit infection with SARS-CoV-2 with an IC50 of <10 ng/mL. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8508056/
Vero B4 cells were infected with the SARS-CoV-2PR-1 (Wuhan type) for 1 h and then treated with different concentrations of WGA. Cell culture supernatants were harvested after 3 days and virus production was analyzed via qRT-PCR and Western blot. Treatment with WGA led to a strong reduction of SARS-CoV-2 replication. A concentration of 10 µg/mL WGA completely abolished the presence of viral RNA copies in cell culture supernatants. The inhibitory effect was observed in a dose-dependent manner and was confirmed by Western blot analysis, which revealed an even stronger and dose-responsive reduction of virion production upon treatment with WGA. Collectively, these data provide the first evidence that WGA exhibits antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in Vero B4 cells, with an estimated IC50ub> of <10 ng/mL.
To analyze cytotoxicity of WGA, toxicity assays were performed in VERO B4 and Calu-3 cells. In Vero B4 cells, the TD50 was ≈ 50 µg/mL, resulting in a broad therapeutic window of at least three log stages. These data suggest that WGA could be used to inhibit infection with SARS-CoV-2 in vivo. Let’s expect future clinical studies on this matter.