Screening and in Vitro Validation of Mushroom Derived Compounds Against SARS-CoV-2

Abstract It’s been more than 2 years since the first outbreak of COVID-19, and still the pandemic is devastating the world and is standing as significant threat to the worldwide medical settings. The reports of new variants, absence of globally approved therapeutics are the major reasons responsible for the continuously increasing number of cases and mortalities. The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is a well reported and a key therapeutic target for designing drugs to treat COVID-19. The medicinal properties of mushrooms and its derived natural compounds are well established. Here in this study, we have performed the virtual screening of mushroom-derived compounds against the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Cordycepin was found to be the most active compound against Mpro. The compound was further isolated from C. militaris and in vitro assay was performed to confirm its antivirals potential against SARS-CoV-2. Our findings show cordycepin to be a promising candidate against COVID-19.