{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T01:11:48Z","timestamp":1787793108262,"version":"build-2784847793"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010363","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,5]],"date-time":"2022-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1651708800000}}],"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]],"date-time":"2022-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1650844800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Hubei Science and Technology Major Project","award":["2021ACB0003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021ACB0003"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p>COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 has posed a significant threat to global public health since its outbreak in late 2019. Although there are a few drugs approved for clinical treatment to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection currently, the severity of the ongoing global pandemic still urges the efforts to discover new antiviral compounds. As the viral spike (S) protein plays a key role in mediating virus entry, it becomes a potential target for the design of antiviral drugs against COVID-19. Here, we tested the antiviral activity of berbamine hydrochloride, a bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, against SARS-CoV-2 infection. We found that berbamine hydrochloride could efficiently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in different cell lines. Further experiments showed berbamine hydrochloride inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection by targeting the viral entry into host cells. Moreover, berbamine hydrochloride and other bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloids could potently inhibit S-mediated cell-cell fusion. Furthermore, molecular docking results implied that the berbamine hydrochloride could bind to the post fusion core of SARS-CoV-2 S2 subunit. Therefore, berbamine hydrochloride may represent a potential efficient antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2 infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010363","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]],"date-time":"2022-04-25T17:34:59Z","timestamp":1650908099000},"page":"e0010363","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":26,"title":["Berbamine hydrochloride potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection by blocking S protein-mediated membrane fusion"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Zhe-Rui","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-Nan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hong-Qing","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qiu-Yan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Na","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cheng-Lin","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiao-Dan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7770-4071","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Han-Qing","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]]},"reference":[{"issue":"13","key":"pntd.0010363.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1268","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMe2002387","article-title":"Covid-19\u2014Navigating the Uncharted","volume":"382","author":"AS Fauci","year":"2020","journal-title":"The New England journal of medicine"},{"key":"pntd.0010363.ref002","article-title":"Oral antivirals for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection","author":"V Soriano","year":"2022","journal-title":"AIDS Rev"},{"issue":"7798","key":"pntd.0010363.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"270","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2012-7","article-title":"A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin","volume":"579","author":"P Zhou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"pntd.0010363.ref004","article-title":"Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19","author":"B Hu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Rev Microbiol"},{"issue":"21","key":"pntd.0010363.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11727","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2003138117","article-title":"Cell entry mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2","volume":"117","author":"J Shang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"issue":"6485","key":"pntd.0010363.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1444","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abb2762","article-title":"Structural basis for the recognition of SARS-CoV-2 by full-length human ACE2","volume":"367","author":"R Yan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Science (New York, NY)."},{"issue":"7807","key":"pntd.0010363.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2179-y","article-title":"Structural basis of receptor recognition by SARS-CoV-2","volume":"581","author":"J Shang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"1","key":"pntd.0010363.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1620","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-020-15562-9","article-title":"Characterization of spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 on virus entry and its immune cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV.","volume":"11","author":"X Ou","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Commun."},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0010363.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2020.02.052","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2 Cell Entry Depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and Is Blocked by a Clinically Proven Protease Inhibitor","volume":"181","author":"M Hoffmann","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cell"},{"issue":"23","key":"pntd.0010363.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e106267","DOI":"10.15252\/embj.2020106267","article-title":"Syncytia formation by SARS-CoV-2-infected cells","volume":"39","author":"J Buchrieser","year":"2020","journal-title":"The EMBO journal"},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0010363.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1038\/nrc723","article-title":"Natural products in cancer chemotherapy: past, present and future","volume":"2","author":"J. 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