The Integrin Binding Peptide, ATN-161, as a Novel Therapy for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Many efforts to design and screen therapeutics for the current severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic have focused on inhibiting viral host cell entry by disrupting angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) binding with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This work focuses on the potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 entry through a hypothesized α5β1 integrin−based mechanism and indicates that inhibiting the spike protein interaction with α5β1 integrin (+/− ACE2) and the interaction between α5β1 integrin and ACE2 using a novel molecule (ATN-161) represents a promising approach to treat coronavirus disease-19.