[Role of cyclophilin A during coronavirus replication and the antiviral activities of its inhibitors].

Cyclophilin A (CypA) is a widely distributed and highly conserved protein in organisms. It has peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity and is a receptor for cyclosporin A (CsA). Coronaviruses are enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses. Seven types of coronaviruses are currently known to infect humans, among which SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 are fatal for humans. It is well established that CypA is essential for the replication of various coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV, CoV-229E, CoV-NL63, and FCoV. Additionally, CsA and its derivatives (ALV, NIM811, etc.) have obvious inhibitory effects on a variety of coronaviruses. These results suggest that CypA is a potential antiviral target and the existing drug CsA might be used as an anti-coronavirus drug. At the end of 2019, SARS-CoV-2 raged in China, which seriously theatern human health and causes huge economic lases. In view of this, we describe the effects of CypA on the replication of coronaviruses and the antiviral activities of its inhibitors, which will provide the scientific basis and ideas for the development of antiviral drugs for SARS-CoV-2.