Effect of β-chitosan on the binding interaction between SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and ACE2

SARS-CoV-2 invades human respiratory epithelial cells via an interaction between its spike RBD protein (SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD) and the host cell receptor angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2). Blocking this interaction provides a potent approach to preventing and controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this work, the ability of β-chitosan to block the binding interaction between SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and ACE2 was investigated. The inhibitory effect of β-chitosan on inflammation induced by the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD was also studied. Native-PAGE analysis indicated that β-chitosan could bind with ACE2 and the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and a conjugate of β-chitosan and ACE2 could no longer bind with the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD. HPLC analysis suggested that a conjugate of β-chitosan and the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD displayed high binding affinity without dissociation under high pressure (40 MPa) compared with that of β-chitosan and ACE2. Furthermore, immunofluorescent staining of Vero E6 cells and lungs from hACE2 mice showed that the presence of β-chitosan prevented SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD from binding to ACE2. Meanwhile, β-chitosan could dramatically suppress the inflammation caused by the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD bothin vitroandvivo. Moreover, the decreased expression of ACE2 caused by β-chitosan treatment was restored by addition of TAPI-1, an inhibitor of the transmembrane protease ADAM17. Our findings demonstrated that β-chitosan displays an antibody-like function capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and effectively preventing the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD to ACE2. Moreover, ADAM17 activation induced by β-chitosan treatment can enhance the cleavage of the extracellular domain of ACE2, releasing the active ectodomain into the extracellular environment, which can prevent the binding, internalization, and degradation of ACE2 bound to the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and thus diminish inflammation. Our study provides an alternative avenue for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection using β-chitosan.