Environment Equality Inclusiveness Action

A virus that jumped from animal to people could be held back by a compound sourced from another creature – a sea sponge living in Howe Sound on the British Columbia coastline.
In a forest or the ocean, you will find yourself surrounded by a wide diversity of plants and creatures that may be key to treating viruses emerging, replicating, and mutating.
The intimate relationship between people and ecosystems is being altered through the widespread destruction of nature, increasing the threat of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases.
A new antiviral drug that could successfully treat coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses may be in development thanks to decades of work cataloging marine compounds by a professor at the University of BC.
That list helped researchers at the University of BC make a discovery generating interest among biotech companies seeking new compounds for COVID-19.
A UBC-led international research team identified more than two dozen compounds that reduce viral infection in lung cells – and the leading candidate comes from a marine animal found off the BC Coast: alotaketal C, collected from a sea sponge in Howe Sound.
These naturally sourced compounds show promise in warding off COVID-19 and other viruses.
Dr. François Jean, associate professor in the UBC department of microbiology and immunology, says there are “a lot of key players in the landscape of the biotech industry that are reaching out to us, which is really encouraging.”
The researchers studied the possibilities of more than 350 compounds from natural sources, including plants, fungi, and marine sponges.
According to Dr. Jean, many antimicrobial, or antibacterial agents, were discovered in natural compounds.
Dr. Jean says the goal was to more thoroughly investigate the “usefulness of natural products as antiviral molecules.”
The starting point was a list of compounds isolated over the years from different sources of marine organisms, bacteria, and sea sponges by UBC Professor Dr. Raymond Anderson.
“We started with his collection, and then we added to that collection the other natural products that were received from five collaborators in different countries including Brazil, Singapore, of course, the US, and Italy.”
They created a catalogue of potential natural compounds and screened them against the SARS-Co-V2 virus stored at the UBC level three containment facility.
The researchers bathed human lung cells in the compounds and exposed them to COVID-19.
They found 26 that could “present antiviral activity against SARS-Co-V2,” and two of the top three molecules were from BC.
“The two compounds from BC,” Dr. Jean says, “are among the most effective antiviral compounds discovered for SARS-Co-V2, so this is very exciting.”
In addition to alotaketal C, isolated from the sea sponge, bafilomycin D from a marine bacteria collected in Barkley Sound, and holyrine A from marine bacteria collected in Newfoundland waters rounded out the top three.
Dr. Jean says the arrival of new COVID mutations has biotech companies looking for new antiviral treatments to replace those that may no longer be effective.
"The industry realized that, so they actually are very much looking forward into, ultimately, a new type of molecule.”
He says there was a “strong response from the industry" following the emergence of variants such as XBB.1.5.
Tests showed the three compounds were effective against the delta-variant and several omicron variants.
Dr. Jean says they were about as safe for human cells as current COVID-19 treatments.
They began by bathing human lung cells in solutions made from the 350 compounds they had selected. They then exposed the cells to SARS-CoV-2. The team found 26 compounds reduced viral infection in the cells – with three effective in small doses.
The first co-author of the study, Dr. Jimena Pérez-Vargas, says these compounds target the cells instead of the virus, “blocking the virus from replicating and helping the cell to recover.”
“Human cells evolve more slowly than viruses," according to Dr. Jimena Pérez-Vargas, "so these compounds could work against future variants and other viruses such as influenza if they use the same mechanisms.”
Dr. Jean says they plan to focus on alotaketal C because professor Anderson has already synthesized the compound in the lab, making it easy to produce it in high quantity for performing pre-clinical tests.
“The next step is really about validating the compound in more complex systems to demonstrate the effectiveness.”
He adds that this will require partnerships with the biotech industry because pre-clinical studies are expensive.
Dr. Jean says the pandemic has speeded up the process. Before Sars-Co-V2 – if you could get support from the biotech industry – development could take 10 to 15 years. He now forecasts the time needed to be about five years.
He says there is more support for manufacturing, facilities, and partnerships.
“With COVID and the pandemic, though, the relationship and the traction between academics and the industry have changed quite a bit.”
Dr. Jean says they are also looking at whether the compounds are candidates for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.
“This interdisciplinary research team is unraveling the important possibilities of biodiversity and natural resources and discovering nature-based solutions for global health challenges such as COVID-19.”
Noting that the top three candidates come from Canada, Dr. Jean believes we underestimate our biodiversity and “turn off discovery of antiviral molecules” in Canada.
Dr. Jean says we need to preserve the incredible biodiversity of nature from which we may continue to discover new compounds.
He says their new study shows us the importance of our natural environment.