Employing bioactive compounds derived from Ipomoea obscura (L.) to evaluate potential inhibitor for SARS‐CoV‐2 main protease and ACE2 protein

Poochi, Saravana Prabha; Easwaran, Murugesh; Balasubramanian, Balamuralikrishnan; Anbuselvam, Mohan; Meyyazhagan, Arun; Park, Sungkwon; Bhotla, Haripriya Kuchi; Anbuselvam, Jeeva; Arumugam, Vijaya Anand; Keshavarao, Sasikala; Kanniyappan, Gopalakrishnan Velliyur; Pappusamy, Manikantan; Kaul, Tanushri

Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and main protease (M(Pro)) are significant target proteins, mainly involved in the attachment of viral genome to host cells and aid in replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronaviruses or SARS‐CoV genome. In the present study, we identified 11 potent bioactive compounds from ethanolic leaf extract of Ipomoea obscura (L.) by using GC‐MS analysis. These potential bioactive compounds were considered for molecular docking studies against ACE2 and M(Pro) target proteins to determine the antiviral effects against SARS‐COV. Results exhibits that among 11 compounds from I. obscura (L.), urso‐deoxycholic acid, demeclocycline, tetracycline, chlorotetracycline, and ethyl iso‐allocholate had potential viral inhibitory activity. Hence, the present findings suggested that chemical constitution present in I. obscura (L.) will address inhibition of corona viral replication in host cells.