Elucidation of the inhibitory activity of ivermectin with host nuclear importin α and several SARS-CoV-2 targets

Ivermectin (IVM) is an FDA-approved drug that has shown antiviral activity against a wide variety of viruses in recent years. IVM inhibits the formation of the importin-α/β1 heterodimeric complex responsible for the translocation and replication of various viral species proteins. Also, IVM hampers SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro; however, the molecular mechanism through which IVM inhibits SARS-CoV-2 is not well understood. Previous studies have explored the molecular mechanism through which IVM inhibits importin-α and several potential targets associated with COVID-19 by using docking approaches and MD simulations to corroborate the docked complexes. This study explores the energetic and structural properties through which IVM inhibits importin-α and five targets associated with COVID-19 by using docking and MD simulations combined with the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MMGBSA) approach. Energetic and structural analysis showed that the main protease 3CL^pro reached the most favorable affinity, followed by importin-α and Nsp9, which shared a similar relationship. Therefore, in vitro activity of IVM can be explained by acting as an inhibitor of importin-α, dimeric 3CL^pro, and Nsp9, but mainly over dimeric 3CL^pro. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma