The Integrin Binding Peptide, ATN-161, as a Novel Therapy for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Many efforts to design and screen therapeutics for the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic have focused on inhibiting viral host cell entry by disrupting ACE2 binding with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This work focuses on the potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 entry through a hypothesized α5β1integrin-based mechanism, and indicates that inhibiting α5β1 integrin interaction with ACE2 and the spike protein using a novel molecule ATN-161 represents a promising approach to treat COVID-19.