Fig. 7: Antiandrogens reduce SARS-CoV-2 entry and infection in lung cells.
a A549 cells were seeded in full media and treated with ±10 μM bicalutamide (BIC) or enzalutamide (ENZA) for 72 h prior to transduction with SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein or VSV-G control pseudotyped lentiviral particles expressing luciferase. Cells were left for an additional 48 h and luciferase assays performed. Luciferase data were normalised to total protein content. Mean of three independent repeats ± 1 SE. One-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparison test. Vehicle Control (VC) v BIC p = 1.3 × 10−4, VC v ENZA p = 2.1 × 10−5. b A549 were seeded in full media, transfected with ACE2 and treated with ±10 μM BIC or ENZA for 72 h prior to infection with SARS-CoV-2. Infectious titres of SARS-CoV-2 in supernatants of A549-ACE2 were determined with TCID50 assays after 24 h of infection. n = 4, mean of two independent experiments repeated in duplicate ± 1 SE. One-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparison test. VC v BIC p = 2.0 × 10−6, VC v ENZA p = 2.5 × 10−6. c Schematic representation of how targeting the AR could reduce SARS-CoV-2 entry. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
