ReviewFrontiers in pharmacology2020
Repurposing Sigma-1 Receptor Ligands for COVID-19 Therapy?
Review in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
61 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- A neuroprotective target in the shadows: a scoping review of pharmacological gaps in σ1R agonists for glutamate-induced neurotoxicity.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis, investigating dose and time of fluvoxamine treatment efficacy for COVID-19 clinical deterioration, death, and Long-COVID complications.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in COVID-19 management: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Antidepressants for COVID-19: A systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of antidepressants on the severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Ion channels and GPCRs as pharmacological regulators of ferroptosis and pyroptosis in metabolic diseases.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2026Review
- Targeting the UPR with Small Molecules: Emerging Strategies for Immune Regulation.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The sigma-1 receptor agonist fluvoxamine alleviates endotoxin-induced acute lung injury in mice.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Cloperastine in paediatric and adult cough management: a historical narrative review.Drugs in context · 2026Review
- First real-world evidence from the Emilia-Romagna region suggests tamoxifen protects breast cancer patients from COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sigma-1 Receptor Specific Biological Functions, Protective Role, and Therapeutic Potential in Cardiovascular Diseases.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2025Review
- The IRE1α-XBP1 arm of the unfolded protein response is a host factor activated in SARS-CoV-2 infection.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease · 2024Article
- New insights into the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- A conformational rearrangement of the SARS-CoV-2 host protein sigma-1 is required for antiviral activity: insights from a combined in-silico/in-vitro approach.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Metabolic alterations upon SARS-CoV-2 infection and potential therapeutic targets against coronavirus infection.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2023Review
- Protein structure-based in-silico approaches to drug discovery: Guide to COVID-19 therapeutics.Molecular aspects of medicine · 2023Review
- Development of Fluorescent 4-[4-(3Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2023Article
- Design and Synthesis of New Acyl Urea Analogs as Potential σ1R Ligands.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Design and Synthesis of Orally Active Quinolyl Pyrazinamides as Sigma 2 Receptor Ligands for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer.Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2023Article
- Sub-cellular sequestration of alkaline drugs in lysosomes: new insights for pharmaceutical development of lysosomal fluid.Research in pharmaceutical sciences · 2023Article
1 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
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Outbreaks of emerging infections, such as COVID-19 pandemic especially, confront health professionals with the unique challenge of treating patients. With no time to discover new drugs, repurposing of approved drugs or in clinical development is likely the only solution. Replication of coronaviruses (CoVs) occurs in a modified membranous compartment derived from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), causes host cell ER stress and activates pathways to facilitate adaptation of the host cell machinery to viral needs. Accordingly, modulation of ER remodeling and ER stress response might be pivotal in elucidating CoV-host interactions and provide a rationale for new therapeutic, host-based antiviral approaches. The sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) is a ligand-operated, ER membrane-bound chaperone that acts as an upstream modulator of ER stress and thus a candidate host protein for host-based repurposing approaches to treat COVID-19 patients. Sig-1R ligands are frequently identified in in vitro drug repurposing screens aiming to identify antiviral compounds against CoVs, including severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Sig-1R regulates key mechanisms of the adaptive host cell stress response and takes part in early steps of viral replication. It is enriched in lipid rafts and detergent-resistant ER membranes, where it colocalizes with viral replicase proteins. Indeed, the non-structural SARS-CoV-2 protein Nsp6 interacts with Sig-1R. The activity of Sig-1R ligands against COVID-19 remains to be specifically assessed in clinical trials. This review provides a rationale for targeting Sig-1R as a host-based drug repurposing approach to treat COVID-19 patients. Evidence gained using Sig-1R ligands in unbiased
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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.