{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T05:57:42Z","timestamp":1768888662079,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,26]],"date-time":"2022-10-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1666742400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["81903875"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81903875"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["82174033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82174033"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2020A1515011342"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020A1515011342"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["JCYJ20190807160601672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20190807160601672"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["202200087"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200087"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["202000189"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202000189"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["202200089"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200089"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["81903875"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81903875"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["82174033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82174033"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["2020A1515011342"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020A1515011342"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["JCYJ20190807160601672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20190807160601672"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["202200087"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200087"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["202000189"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202000189"]}]},{"name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","award":["202200089"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200089"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["81903875"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81903875"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["82174033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82174033"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["2020A1515011342"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020A1515011342"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["JCYJ20190807160601672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20190807160601672"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["202200087"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200087"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["202000189"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202000189"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Fund","award":["202200089"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200089"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["81903875"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81903875"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["82174033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82174033"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["2020A1515011342"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2020A1515011342"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["JCYJ20190807160601672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20190807160601672"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["202200087"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200087"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["202000189"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202000189"]}]},{"name":"Project for High Efficiency and Developed Hospital at Foshan City","award":["202200089"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202200089"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious and pathogenic disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Early in this epidemic, the herbal formulas used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) were widely used for the treatment of COVID-19 in China. According to Venn diagram analysis, we found that Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma is a frequent herb in TCM formulas against COVID-19. The extract of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma exhibits an anti-SARS-CoV-2 replication activity in vitro, but its pharmacological mechanism remains unclear. We here demonstrate that glycyrrhizin, the main active ingredient of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, prevents the coronavirus from entering cells by targeting angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Glycyrrhizin inhibited the binding of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 to ACE2 in our Western blot-based assay. The following bulk RNA-seq analysis showed that glycyrrhizin down-regulated ACE2 expression in vitro which was further confirmed by Western blot and quantitative PCR. Together, we believe that glycyrrhizin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells by targeting ACE2.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life12111706","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,26]],"date-time":"2022-10-26T07:17:48Z","timestamp":1666768668000},"page":"1706","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Glycyrrhizin Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Entry into Cells by Targeting ACE2"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Ming-Feng","family":"He","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan 528000, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jian-Hui","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Translation Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan-Ni","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Translation Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2828-3121","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jin-Wen","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Translation Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kuang-Yang","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan 528000, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Li-Chu","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan 528000, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Junyi","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bluewood Associates Co., Ltd., Suzhou 215134, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Translation Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2919-2870","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chun","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery, Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2566-3519","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xun","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0671-7312","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Translation Medicine Research and Development, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30251-8","article-title":"Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: Implications for virus origins and receptor binding","volume":"395","author":"Lu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"689","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30260-9","article-title":"Nowcasting and forecasting the potential domestic and international spread of the 2019-nCoV outbreak originating in Wuhan, China: A modelling study","volume":"395","author":"Wu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijid.2020.01.009","article-title":"The continuing 2019-nCoV epidemic threat of novel 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