Antigens from the helminth Fasciola hepatica exert antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

11 páginas, 3 figuras

SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, is a new coronavirus that has rapidly spread worldwide and significantly impacted human health by causing a severe acute respiratory syndrome boosted by a pulmonary hyperinflammatory response. Previous data from our lab showed that the newly excysted juveniles of the helminth parasite Fasciola hepatica (FhNEJ) modulate molecular routes within host cells related to vesicle-mediated transport and components of the innate immune response, which could potentially be relevant during viral infections. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine whether FhNEJ-derived molecules influence SARS-CoV-2 infection efficiency in Vero cells. Pre-treatment of Vero cells with a tegument-enriched antigenic extract of FhNEJ (FhNEJ-TEG) significantly reduced infection by both vesicular stomatitis virus particles pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein (VSV-S2) and live SARS-CoV-2. Pre-treatment of the virus itself with FhNEJ-TEG prior to infection also resulted in reduced infection efficiency similar to that obtained by remdesivir pre-treatment. Remarkably, treatment of Vero cells with FhNEJ-TEG after VSV-S2 entry also resulted in reduced infection efficiency, suggesting that FhNEJ-TEG may also affect post-entry steps of the VSV replication cycle. Altogether, our results could potentially encourage the production of FhNEJ-derived molecules in a safe, synthetic format for their application as therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2 and other related respiratory viruses.

This research work was supported in part by the European Commission—Next Generation EU fund (Regulation EU 2020/2094), awarded to M.S.-L. and R.G. through CSIC’s Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global). M.S.-L. acknowledges the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Projects AGL2015-67023-C2-2-R and PID2019-108782RB-C22), and the Project “CLU-2019-05—IRNASA/CSIC Unit of Excellence”, funded by the Junta de Castilla y León and cofinanced by the European Union (ERDF “Europe drives our growth”). D.B.-R. and J.S. acknowledge the support of the Junta de Castilla y León for their Predoctoral contracts. J.G.-M. is supported by the “Ramón y Cajal” program of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (RYC2020-030575-I)

Peer reviewed