Human ACE2 peptide mimics block SARS-CoV-2 Pulmonary Cells Infection

In the light of the recent accumulated knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 and its mode of human cells invasion, the binding of viral spike glycoprotein to human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor plays a central role in cell entry. We designed a series of peptides mimicking the N-terminal helix of hACE2 protein which contains most of the contacting residues at the binding site and have a high helical folding propensity in aqueous solution. Our best peptide mimics bind to the virus spike protein with high affinity and are able to block SARS-CoV-2 human pulmonary cell infection with an inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) in the nanomolar range. These first in class blocking peptide mimics represent powerful tools that might be used in prophylactic and therapeutic approaches to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).