Exploring the Potential of Bacillus Species Secondary Metabolites as SARS-CoV-2 Protease Inhibitors

Virus has the ability to cause health problems and even death in humans. Therefore, this review aims to assess the potential of metabolites derived from Bacillus species as viral protease inhibitors, specifically targeting Mpro/3CLpro and PLpro, in SARS-CoV-2 infection. During infection, SARS-CoV-2 enters host cells and initiates replication by translating viral proteases. The major protease (Mpro), also known as 3CLpro, and the papain-like protease (PLpro) are both encoded by SARS-CoV-2. Protease inhibitors (PIs) disrupt the formation of new viral particles by suppressing protease activity. Metabolites capable of acting as protease inhibitors found in Bacillus spp. include chondrillasterol, cholestane, trifluoroacetic acid, octadecenoic acid, stigmasterol, 9-octadecenoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, Macrolactin A, Subtilosin A, Leodoglucomide, Gramicidin S, and Tyrocidine A. Molecular docking analysis presented effective binding of these compounds to the active sites of Mpro or PLpro. The results showed that various compounds identified in Bacillus spp. had the potential to be developed as alternative drugs for combating SARS-CoV-2.