Compound derived from B.C. sea sponge could block COVID-19 virus, researchers find

Researchers at the University of British Columbia say a compound derived from sea sponges found off the B.C. coast can block coronavirus infection in human cells.

The discovery couldpave the way for the development of new COVID-19 medicines made from natural sources, researchers say.

An international team led by UBC scientists analyzed a catalogueof more than 350 compounds derived from natural sourcesthat included plants, fungiand marine sponges in an effort to find new antiviral drugsto treat coronavirus variants.

Researchers bathed human lung cells in solutions made from the compounds and then infected the cells with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They found 26compounds reduced viral infection in the cells.

The three most effective compounds were sourcedin Canada: one from sea sponges collected in Howe Sound, northwest of Vancouver, another from marine bacteria collected in Barkley Soundon the west coast of Vancouver Island, and a third from marine bacteriain Newfoundland.

"These compounds blocked infection, so we cannot see more virus in the cells after a few days,"said Jimena Prez-Vargas, a research associate in UBC's department of microbiology and immunology.

"They are very efficient because we need to use very small amounts of these compounds to block completely the infection of the virus in the cells."

Prez-Vargas says the compounds are promising in that they targetcells rather than the virus, blocking the virus from replicating and helping the cell to recover.

She says researchers are able to replicate the compound found in sea sponges so it won't be necessary to harvest them.

The peer-reviewed paper was published in the journalAntiviral Research.

'More work to do': researcher

Prez-Vargas says they are pleased with their findings "but we have more work to do."

She says the results have come at the cellular level and the next step isto test them on animal models.

Dr. Srinivas Murthy, an infectious diseasesexpert in UBC's faculty of medicine who was not affiliated with the study,says it's always exciting to find new molecules that could work against viruses.

"It's reassuring that there's still work being done in this space ...there's lots of things that we still have to learn about how COVID works and the possible therapeutics that are out there," Murthy said.

Even if the findings don't lead directly toa treatment for humans,it could help scientists better understand the disease, he says.

"Scientists from around the world can see this paper and think, OK, I have something similar, let'sadapt what we're doing andbuild towardsomething that could work for everybody," he says.

The study notes that natural products are "considered a rich resource for novel antiviral drug development" and"have the advantage ofmore favourable toxicological profiles, fewer side effects, and a faster approval process in comparison to chemically engineered drugs."

Murthy says the study speaks to the importance of "maintaining biodiversity because there's so many medicinal products that exist out there in the natural environment."

The antimalarial drugArtemisinin, for instance, wasextracted fromsweet wormwood. Farnesol, which isfound in fruits and herbs, is being studied as a potential treatment for Parkinson's Disease.

"I think the ability to find new medicines is truly exciting," he said.