ArticleInternational journal of antimicrobial agents2020
Structural and molecular modelling studies reveal a new mechanism of action of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Article in International journal of antimicrobial agents, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 321 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
321 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 576 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring the long-term hydroxychloroquine's effects on COVID-19 outcomes in patients with autoimmune diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- Association between Guillain-Barré syndrome and SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, including the impact of COVID-19 vaccination in the context of the development and general clinical characteristics of the disease.Journal of neurovirology · 2025Pooled it
- Mortality outcomes with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19 from an international collaborative meta-analysis of randomized trials.Nature communications · 2021Pooled it
- Hydroxychloroquine use and progression or prognosis of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine in hospitalised patients with confirmed COVID-19: a randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled trial.The European respiratory journal · 2022Trial
- Safety and efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of non-severe COVID-19 among adults in Uganda: a randomized open label phase II clinical trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Trial
- High Levels of Common Cold Coronavirus Antibodies in Convalescent Plasma Are Associated With Improved Survival in COVID-19 Patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Trial
- Article
- Drug Repurposing as a Broad-Spectrum Strategy Against Coronaviruses: Frontiers in Mechanisms and Clinical Translation.Viruses · 2026Review
- Post-COVID-19 surge in Guillain-Barré syndrome during the Omicron wave in China with clinical characteristics and potential immune-mediated pathways.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Host Glycan-Lectin Interplay in SARS-CoV-2 Infection.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The Enigmatic Conserved Q134-F135-N137 Triad in SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein: A Conformational Transducer?Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Antiviral potential of zinc ion: mechanisms and applications in viral infections.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Synthesis, function, and therapeutic potential of glycosphingolipids.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Article
- Biological function of sialic acid and sialylation in human health and disease.Cell death discovery · 2024Review
- Efficacy of Ivermectin, Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine, and Azithromycin in Managing COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Phase III Clinical Trials.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Current development of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 neutralizing antibodies (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2024Review
- Complex Neurological Sequelae: Axonal Guillain-Barré Syndrome Post COVID-19 in a Young Patient.Cureus · 2024Article
- Single-molecule imaging reveals allosteric stimulation of SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain by host sialic acid.Science advances · 2024Article
261 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The recent emergence of the novel pathogenic SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for a worldwide pandemic. Given the global health emergency, drug repositioning is the most reliable option to design an efficient therapy for infected patients without delay. The first step of the viral replication cycle [i.e. attachment to the surface of respiratory cells, mediated by the spike (S) viral protein] offers several potential therapeutic targets. The S protein uses the angiotension-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor for entry, but also sialic acids linked to host cell surface gangliosides. Using a combination of structural and molecular modelling approaches, this study showed that chloroquine (CLQ), one of the drugs currently under investigation for SARS-CoV-2 treatment, binds sialic acids and gangliosides with high affinity. A new type of ganglioside-binding domain at the tip of the N-terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein was identified. This domain (111-158), which is fully conserved among clinical isolates worldwide, may improve attachment of the virus to lipid rafts and facilitate contact with the ACE-2 receptor. This study showed that, in the presence of CLQ [or its more active derivative, hydroxychloroquine (CLQ-OH)], the viral S protein is no longer able to bind gangliosides. The identification of this new mechanism of action of CLQ and CLQ-OH supports the use of these repositioned drugs to cure patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The in-silico approaches used in this study might also be used to assess the efficiency of a broad range of repositioned and/or innovative drug candidates before clinical evaluation.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.