Pharmacological activation of STING blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces multiple host immune-response at late phase of infection in human Calu-3 cells. Expressions of IFN controls viral growth. Screening to identify agonists for innate immune-related protein or pathogen-associated molecular patterns recognizing protein that may restrict viral growth resulted in the identification of STING agonist that can induce effective immune response and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 growth in culture cells. Its inhibitory function for viral growth was demonstrated in vivo by using SARS-CoV-2 inoculated K-18 hACE2 Tg mouse model. A recombinant SARS-CoV-2 strain possessing spike gene derived from South Africa variant can infect to normal mouse and cause loss of weight. Using this infection model, the effectiveness of STING agonist for the restriction of the growth of SARS-CoV-2 variant was certificated.