ReviewPharmacology & therapeutics2020
Cathepsin L-selective inhibitors: A potentially promising treatment for COVID-19 patients.
Review in Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 163 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
163 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 287 citations in OpenAlex.
- Therapeutic Targets for Heart Failure Identified Using Proteomics and Mendelian Randomization.Circulation · 2022Pooled it
- Dynamic data-driven meta-analysis for prioritisation of host genes implicated in COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Intranasal drop of multiplex RNA therapy for SARS-CoV-2 infections: baicalein-enhanced FEN1 nuclease cleaving as a virus buster.Emerging microbes & infections · 2026Article
- Recent Advances in the Design of Inhibitors Targeting the Viral Entry and Replication of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus, Driven by In Silico Approaches.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Magnolol inhibits porcine epidemic diarrhea virus infection by suppressing cathepsin L expressionJournal of virology · 2026Article
- Pharmacokinetics, pathology and efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitor VPC285785 in a murine model of coronavirus infection.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Targeting Host Dependency Factors: A Paradigm Shift in Antiviral Strategy Against RNA Viruses.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Identification of Cathepsin L as the Molecular Target of Hydroxychloroquine With Chemical Proteomics.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2025Article
- Production of human cathepsins using Expi293™ mammalian cell expression system for off-target activity of cysteine protease inhibitor screening.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2025Article
- Cathepsin L and transmembrane serine protease 11E mediate trypsin-independent entry of porcine deltacoronavirus into Huh7 cells.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Dexamethasone disrupts intracellular pH homeostasis to delay coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus cell entry via sodium hydrogen exchanger 3 activation.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Syntaxin-6 restricts SARS-CoV-2 infection by facilitating virus trafficking to autophagosomes.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies of thiazole-coumarin and thiazole-triazole conjugates against MIn silico pharmacology · 2025Article
- The multifaceted roles of cathepsins in immune and inflammatory responses: implications for cancer therapy, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases.Biomarker research · 2024Review
- Discovering novel Cathepsin L inhibitors from natural products using artificial intelligence.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2024Article
- Comprehensive Risk Assessment of Infection Induced by SARS-CoV-2.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Review
- Unraveling Macrophage Polarization: Functions, Mechanisms, and "Double-Edged Sword" Roles in Host Antiviral Immune Responses.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Article
- Article
103 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The widespread coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has already infected over 4 million people worldwide, with a death toll over 280,000. Current treatment of COVID-19 patients relies mainly on antiviral drugs lopinavir/ritonavir, arbidol, and remdesivir, the anti-malarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, and traditional Chinese medicine. There are over 2,118 on-going clinical trials underway, but to date none of these drugs have consistently proven effective. Cathepsin L (CatL) is an endosomal cysteine protease. It mediates the cleavage of the S1 subunit of the coronavirus surface spike glycoprotein. This cleavage is necessary for coronavirus entry into human host cells, virus and host cell endosome membrane fusion, and viral RNA release for next round of replication. Here we summarize data regarding seven CatL-selective inhibitors that block coronavirus entry into cultured host cells and provide a mechanism to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans. Given the rapid growth of the SARS-CoV-2-positive population worldwide, ready-to-use CatL inhibitors should be explored as a treatment option. We identify ten US FDA-approved drugs that have CatL inhibitory activity. We provide evidence that supports the combined use of serine protease and CatL inhibitors as a possibly safer and more effective therapy than other available therapeutics to block coronavirus host cell entry and intracellular replication, without compromising the immune system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.