ArticleThe EMBO journal2021
Infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 depend on heparan sulfate proteoglycans.
Article in The EMBO journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05305508 (A Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind, Monocenter, Phase II Trial to Assess the Efficacy of Calcium Dobesilate), which is not on this map. Cited by 59 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
A Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind, Monocenter, Phase II Trial to Assess the Efficacy of Calcium Dobesilate (CaD) vs. Placebo on SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Amongst Outpatients With COVID-19.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mucosal immune response in biology, disease prevention and treatment.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Nanoscopy reveals heparan sulfate clusters as docking sites for SARS-CoV-2 attachment and entry.eLife · 2026Article
- Challenges in developing broad-spectrum viral attachment inhibitors targeting heparan sulfates and sialic acids.Journal of virology · 2026Review
- A novel fusion protein of COVID-19 virus enhancing protection of Syrian hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Article
- The Role of Enoxaparin in Influenza Virus Infections and its Therapeutic Implications.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Heparin Provides Antiviral Activity Against Rhinovirus-16 via an Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan-Independent Mechanism.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Nanoscopy Reveals Heparan Sulfate Clusters as Docking Sites for SARS-CoV-2 Attachment and Entry.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Controlling the Sulfation Density of Glycosaminoglycan Glycopolymer Mimetics Enables High Antiviral Activity against SARS-CoV-2 and Reduces Anticoagulant Activity.Biomacromolecules · 2025Article
- Infectious and Immunological Links Between Periodontitis and COVID-19: A Review.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Review
- Article
- Variant-Specific Interactions at the Plasma Membrane: Heparan Sulfate's Impact on SARS-CoV-2 Binding Kinetics.Analytical chemistry · 2025Article
- Tetraspanin CD81 serves as a functional entry factor for porcine circovirus type 2 infection.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Cyclophilin-CD147 interaction enables SARS-CoV-2 infection of human monocytes and their activation via Toll-like receptors 7 and 8.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Efficacy of dispirotripiperazine PDSTP in a golden Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 spike trimers towards optimized heparan sulfate cross-linking and inter-chain mobility.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Diversity of human salivary heparan sulfate.Glycobiology · 2024Article
- TRIM7 ubiquitinates SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein to limit apoptosis and viral replication.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Unveiling the Interplay-Vitamin D and ACE-2 Molecular Interactions in Mitigating Complications and Deaths from SARS-CoV-2.Biology · 2024Review
- Seaweed-derived fucoidans and rhamnan sulfates serve as potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents with potential for prophylaxis.Carbohydrate polymers · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The current pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and outbreaks of new variants highlight the need for preventive treatments. Here, we identified heparan sulfate proteoglycans as attachment receptors for SARS-CoV-2. Notably, neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 isolated from COVID-19 patients interfered with SARS-CoV-2 binding to heparan sulfate proteoglycans, which might be an additional mechanism of antibodies to neutralize infection. SARS-CoV-2 binding to and infection of epithelial cells was blocked by low molecular weight heparins (LMWH). Although dendritic cells (DCs) and mucosal Langerhans cells (LCs) were not infected by SARS-CoV-2, both DC subsets efficiently captured SARS-CoV-2 via heparan sulfate proteoglycans and transmitted the virus to ACE2-positive cells. Notably, human primary nasal cells were infected by SARS-CoV-2, and infection was blocked by pre-treatment with LMWH. These data strongly suggest that heparan sulfate proteoglycans are important attachment receptors facilitating infection and transmission, and support the use of LMWH as prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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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.