Coronaviruses have caused three large outbreaks in the past century. The most recent one, also still ongoing, is represented by the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic. Efforts have been taken to develop efficient vaccines and antivirals and one of the major virus-based targets in drug development is represented by the main protease of these viruses. Main proteases are proteins (cysteine hydrolases) with high level of conservation among different coronaviruses and have an important role in the virus life cycle. Due to the need of developing broad-spectrum antivirals against Coronaviruses, this study aimed to set up a CPE-based assay for testing compounds against the main protease of human coronavirus 229E. An optimized TCID50 protocol was established by using MRC-5 cells, at a density of 1x104 cells/ml with a 3h incubation prior infection with a concentration of 10-1 of HCoV-229E. The cell viability was assessed through MTT assay. Using reference compounds, with previously demonstrated antiviral potency against the main protease of different coronaviruses (GC-376, Nirmatrelvir), the efficiency of the conceived assay was validated (GC-376 EC50 = 1.24 μM; Nirmatrelvir Ec50= 0.72 μM). Compound 19 was proved to also be active against the main protease of HCoV-229E (EC50 = 0.22 μM), and together with previous findings, it was concluded that this compound has a broad-spectrum activity. Newly developed compounds MP17 and MP19 were also demonstrated to be efficient against HCoV-229E. As a future perspective, further investigations of these compounds should take place for the identification of EC50 values.

Une antisepsie-désinfection (ATS-D) efficace est fondamentale si l'on considère le manque de traitements antiviraux spécifiques, l'émergence de nouveaux virus et l'accroissement du nombre d'infections nosocomiales virales. A ce jour, une seule norme Européenne, la norme NF EN 14476+A1, propose un cadre pour évaluer l'activité ATS-D antivirale en médecine Humaine et certaines améliorations sont encore nécessaires.Dans ce but, nous avons développé et validé, biologiquement et physico-chimiquement, un protocole pour évaluer l'activité ATS-D antivirale. Ce dernier est basé sur une méthode originale de filtration sur gel faisant appel à des colonnes de Séphadex™ G-25 et G-10 de notre conception comme moyen de neutralisation. Nous avons ainsi évalué, sur le coronavirus Humain 229E (HCoV 229E), les activités ATS-D de deux molécules de référence, la chlorhexidine (CHX) et l'hexamidine (HXM), ainsi que de deux calixarènes : le tetra-para-sulfonato-calix[4]arène (C[4]S) et le 1,3-bis(bithiazolyl)-tetra-para-sulfonato-calix[4]arène (C[4]S-BTZ). Selon la norme Européenne, pour qu'une formulation puisse prétendre à une activité ATS-D antivirale, il faut qu'elle induise une diminution de 4 log10 dans les titres viraux. L'HXM et le C[4]S n'ont montré qu'une très faible activité vis à vis du HCoV 229E. La CHX a montré quant à elle une activité beaucoup plus intéressante bien qu'elle ne puisse néanmoins pas prétendre à une activité ATS sur le HCoV 229E. Enfin, le C[4]S-BTZ a montré une activité comparable, voire meilleure, que la CHX. Son activité s'est en effet avérée plus rapide, rémanente et dénuée de cytotoxicité, contrairement à la CHX / Efficient antisepsis-disinfection is fundamental, considering the lack in antiviral treatments, the emergence of new viruses and the raising of viral nosocomial infections. Only one European Standard (NF EN 14476 + A1) proposes a frame to evaluate antiseptic antiviral activity in Human medicine and some improvements are still needed. We thus developed and validated, biologically and physico-chemically, a virucidal assay based on an original gel filtration method, using “in-house” G-25 and G-10 Sephadex™ columns, as neutralization method. We evaluated, on the Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV 229E), the antiseptic activity of two reference molecules, chlorhexidine (CHX) and hexamidine (HXM), and of two new potent antiviral drugs: the tetra-para-sulfonatocalix[4]arene (C[4]S) and the 1,3-bis(bithiazolyl)-tetra-para-sulfonato calix[4]arene (C[4]S-BTZ). A 4 log10 reduction in viral titers is required, according to the European Standard.HXM and C[4]S showed almost no activity on the HCoV 229E. Considering the CHX, it showed a quite interesting activity, even if it did not reach the threshold to pretend to an antiseptic activity on the HCoV 229E. Finally, The C[4]S-BTZ showed a comparable activity to the CHX, and even better. Thanks to this original method, we could highlight a new interesting molecule, the C[4]S-BTZ, which showed a close activity to the CHX, but faster, residual and exempt of cytotoxicity, whereas chlorhexidine did