CEP inhibits SARS-CoV-2 cell binding
(A) Predicted binding of CEP molecule to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Spike protein, CEP molecule, and protein binding site residues around CEP within 4 Å are shown in cartoon representation colored in orange, green stick, and surface representation, respectively. An overlapping view of the ACE2 with CEP is shown in semi-transparent cartoon representation colored in cyan.
(B) Virus-cell binding assay. VeroE6/TMPRSS2 cells were incubated with virus (MOI = 0.001) in the presence of the indicated compounds for 30 min at 4°C to allow virus-cell binding. After extensive washing, cell-bound viral RNA was quantified, where the background depicts residual viral inocula in the absence of cells (B; mean ± SD). These data were from three independent experiments. ∗∗p < 0.01; N.S., not significant (Student's t-test)