<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yang Yi</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Li, Junhua</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xinyuan Lai</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Meng Zhang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yi Kuang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yang-Oujie Bao</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rong Yu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wei Hong</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Elishiba Muturi</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Heng Xue</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Hongping Wei</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Li, Tong</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Hui Zhuang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xue Qiao</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kuanhui Xiang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Hang Yang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Min Ye</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Natural triterpenoids from licorice potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Adv Res .</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2021</style></year></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35116174/</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">36</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">201-210</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;strong class=&quot;sub-title&quot;&gt;Introduction:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;The COVID-19 global epidemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a great public health emergency. Discovering antiviral drug candidates is urgent for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. &lt;strong class=&quot;sub-title&quot;&gt;Objectives:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;This work aims to discover natural SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors from the traditional Chinese herbal medicine licorice. &lt;strong class=&quot;sub-title&quot;&gt;Methods:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;We screened 125 small molecules from&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Glycyrrhiza uralensis&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;Fisch. (licorice, Gan-Cao) by virtual ligand screening targeting the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Potential hit compounds were further evaluated by ELISA, SPR, luciferase assay, antiviral assay and pharmacokinetic study. &lt;strong class=&quot;sub-title&quot;&gt;Results:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;The triterpenoids licorice-saponin A3 (A3) and glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) could potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection, with EC50&amp;nbsp;of 75 nM and 3.17 µM, respectively. Moreover, we reveal that A3 mainly targets the nsp7 protein, and GA binds to the spike protein RBD of SARS-CoV-2. &lt;strong class=&quot;sub-title&quot;&gt;Conclusion:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;In this work, we found GA and A3 from licorice potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection by affecting entry and replication of the virus. Our findings indicate that these triterpenoids may contribute to the clinical efficacy of licorice for COVID-19 and could be promising candidates for antiviral drug development. &lt;strong class=&quot;sub-title&quot;&gt;Keywords:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;COVID-19; Glycyrrhetinic acid; Licorice; Licorice-saponin A3; SARS-CoV-2.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>