Surfactin Bacterial Antiviral Lipopeptide Blocks In Vitro Replication of SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Despite great efforts have been made worldwide, the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) still has not a definitive cure, although the availability of different vaccines are slowing down the transmission and severity. It has been shown that surfactin, a cyclic lipopeptide produced by Bacillus subtilis, is a molecule able to counteract both SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV and HCoV-229E coronaviruses. In this study the potential antiviral activity of surfactin against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was tested in vitro in a cellular model of infection. Our results show that 2 h treatment with surfactin is able to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectivity on Vero E6 cells both at 24 h and after 7 days from viral inoculation, probably impairing the viral membrane integrity. Moreover, surfactin, at the concentrations used in our experimental settings, is not cytotoxic. We suggest surfactin as a new potential molecule against SARS-CoV-2, to be employed at least as a disinfectant.