Identified compounds SARS-CoV-2 inhibition evaluation
in lung epithelial
cells. (A) A549-ACE2 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2 (MOI = 0.1)
and treated with the identified compounds in the indicated concentrations
or with vehicle; 24 hpi cells were immuno-stained for SARS-CoV-2 spike
protein (SARS-S). Scale bar = 100 μm. (B) Quantification summary
of the percentage SARS-CoV-2 positive cells; images from four random
fields were analyzed, and the percentage of SARS-S+ cells
was determined. Data was plotted as mean ± SD, N = 3. Analysis was performed using a two-tailed Student’s t-test, N = 3, ** = p ≤
0.01. (C) Relative SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA expression in A549-ACE2-infected
cells (24 hpi) treated with the identified compounds in the indicated
concentrations. Total extracted RNA was evaluated for the presence
of SARS-CoV-2 subgenomic N transcripts, and the expression
level was calculated relative to the vehicle-treated group. Data was
plotted as mean ± SD, N = 3. Analysis was performed
using a two-tailed Student’s t-test, N = 3, ** = p ≤ 0.01.