{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T14:46:46Z","timestamp":1788792406881,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,30]],"date-time":"2021-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1630281600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003852","name":"Regione Campania","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Fase 2, studio multicentrico aperto per determinare la sicurezza, tollerabilit\u00e0 ed efficacia della larazotide acetato per l\u2019uso urgente in pazienti anziani a rischio per la prevenzione di danno acuto polmonare (ali) e la sindrome da distress respiratorio"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Fase 2, studio multicentrico aperto per determinare la sicurezza, tollerabilit\u00e0 ed efficacia della larazotide acetato per l\u2019uso urgente in pazienti anziani a rischio per la prevenzione di danno acuto polmonare (ali) e la sindrome da distress respiratorio"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003852","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003852","name":"Regione Campania","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Fighting Cancer Resistance: Multidisciplinary Integrated Platform for a Technological Innovative Approach to Oncotherapies (Campania Oncotherapies)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Fighting Cancer Resistance: Multidisciplinary Integrated Platform for a Technological Innovative Approach to Oncotherapies (Campania Oncotherapies)"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003852","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been identified as the pathogen responsible for the outbreak of a severe, rapidly developing pneumonia (Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19). The virus enzyme, called 3CLpro or main protease (Mpro), is essential for viral replication, making it a most promising target for antiviral drug development. Recently, we adopted the drug repurposing as appropriate strategy to give fast response to global COVID-19 epidemic, by demonstrating that the zonulin octapeptide inhibitor AT1001 (Larazotide acetate) binds Mpro catalytic domain. Thus, in the present study we tried to investigate the antiviral activity of AT1001, along with five derivatives, by cell-based assays. Our results provide with the identification of AT1001 peptide molecular framework for lead optimization step to develop new generations of antiviral agents of SARS-CoV-2 with an improved biological activity, expanding the chance for success in clinical trials.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22179427","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,30]],"date-time":"2021-08-30T22:49:51Z","timestamp":1630363791000},"page":"9427","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Peptide Derivatives of the Zonulin Inhibitor Larazotide (AT1001) as Potential Anti SARS-CoV-2: Molecular Modelling, Synthesis and Bioactivity Evaluation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4688-1080","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simone","family":"Di Micco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS), Via Salvatore de Renzi 50, 84125 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8312-4241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona","family":"Musella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS), Via Salvatore de Renzi 50, 84125 Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marina","family":"Sala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Farmacia, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria C.","family":"Scala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Farmacia, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2609-4896","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Graciela","family":"Andrei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robert","family":"Snoeck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Bifulco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Farmacia, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1069-2181","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pietro","family":"Campiglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Farmacia, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084 Fisciano, Salerno, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2134-0261","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessio","family":"Fasano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Biomedical Research Institute of Salerno (EBRIS), Via Salvatore de Renzi 50, 84125 Salerno, Italy"},{"name":"Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital\u2013Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109814","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2020.109814","article-title":"Understanding COVID-19 diffusion requires an interdisciplinary, multi-dimensional approach","volume":"188","author":"Bontempia","year":"2020","journal-title":"Environ. 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