A target prediction method to inhibit the replication process of SARS-CoV-2 via metabolic differential analysis

preprint OA: gold CC-BY-4.0
📄 Open PDF Full text JSON View at publisher

Abstract

Abstract The emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on people's lives, and it is therefore necessary to study how to treat COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 invades and reprograms human cells, altering the host cell metabolic system to favor its survival and replication, ultimately leading to disease onset. However, few studies have focused on inhibiting the replication process of SARS-CoV-2. In this paper, we present a novel method to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our method reconstructs network models of the host cell metabolic systems altered by virus invasion and predicts candidate antiviral targets via metabolic differential analysis. We separately analyzed gene expression data from lung and non-lung host cells to perform target prediction. The results indicate that D-alanine is a key metabolite affecting SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our approach is general and applicable to existing viruses, offering new ideas for dealing with viral diseases.
Full text 12,612 characters · extracted from preprint-html · click to expand
A target prediction method to inhibit the replication process of SARS-CoV-2 via metabolic differential analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A target prediction method to inhibit the replication process of SARS-CoV-2 via metabolic differential analysis Haoran Zheng, Yupeng Qi, Yanlong Zhao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2668079/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on people's lives, and it is therefore necessary to study how to treat COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 invades and reprograms human cells, altering the host cell metabolic system to favor its survival and replication, ultimately leading to disease onset. However, few studies have focused on inhibiting the replication process of SARS-CoV-2. In this paper, we present a novel method to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our method reconstructs network models of the host cell metabolic systems altered by virus invasion and predicts candidate antiviral targets via metabolic differential analysis. We separately analyzed gene expression data from lung and non-lung host cells to perform target prediction. The results indicate that D-alanine is a key metabolite affecting SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our approach is general and applicable to existing viruses, offering new ideas for dealing with viral diseases. Bioinformatics Computational Biology Systems Biology COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 metabolic differences Full Text Supplementary Files STABLE1.xlsx List of genes related to Protein S. STABLE2.xlsx Results of single knockout S-associated gene experiments. STABLE3.xlsx Sample distribution of lung cell data. STABLE4.xlsx Details of non-lung cell samples. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2668079","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":181713676,"identity":"97d09aec-79a1-49d1-83ec-e2aa2e8a25ea","order_by":0,"name":"Haoran Zheng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYGNhAtB+UzE6/FGKqaBC2JDURrMZc+/uzBxx216RvOnz/4gaHCOrGB/ewBvFos+xLSDWeeOZ674UYyswTDmfTEBp68BPwOO8NwTJq37RhQCzMbA2Pb4cQGCR4DAloY26T/th1LNzh/GKjlH1FamNmkGdtqEgwOJAO1NBClhY1NsrftgOHMG8nGEgnH0o3beHIIaWF/JvGzrU6e7/zBhx8+1FjL9rOfwa8FCg5DqAQGaDQRAeqIVDcKRsEoGAUjEgAAVP9Dk5BeMsgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haoran","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":181713677,"identity":"72a60b11-bf95-4d08-9148-98f896420ab9","order_by":1,"name":"Yupeng Qi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yupeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Qi","suffix":""},{"id":181713678,"identity":"a532dfe3-3cca-4402-a383-64c28c4998e4","order_by":2,"name":"Yanlong Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yanlong","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-03-08 06:27:56","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":true,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"coiExplicitlySet":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2668079/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2668079/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":35406216,"identity":"112dcf12-0790-4b3a-8d96-50461200e8a2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-04-06 17:16:18","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":556507,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AtargetpredictionmethodtoinhibitthereplicationprocessofSARSCoV2virusvarmetabolicdifferentialanalysis.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2668079/v1_covered.pdf"},{"id":35405871,"identity":"d74f2509-78a0-489e-bf8c-fd4143193cd3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-04-06 17:08:09","extension":"xlsx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":9708,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eList of genes related to Protein S.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"STABLE1.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2668079/v1/9096702b1f6b96aa873c3deb.xlsx"},{"id":35405868,"identity":"e5495837-116b-4c97-b7bc-9ae93497e8b7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-04-06 17:08:09","extension":"xlsx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":16384,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eResults of single knockout S-associated gene experiments.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"STABLE2.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2668079/v1/2fdc89c47393573c4579c162.xlsx"},{"id":35406210,"identity":"50eeff91-cb42-4b35-802d-d5c72f25fbbf","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-04-06 17:16:09","extension":"xlsx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":10037,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSample distribution of lung cell data.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"STABLE3.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2668079/v1/1183544dfee8f2ea42ba7814.xlsx"},{"id":35405870,"identity":"1f659ec2-d554-4419-85fe-228f7463449e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-04-06 17:08:09","extension":"xlsx","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":10691,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDetails of non-lung cell samples.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"STABLE4.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2668079/v1/74ab43a97782a7b633176b1e.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eA target prediction method to inhibit the replication process of SARS-CoV-2 via metabolic differential analysis\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[{"identity":"e8f69ed9-de23-4190-acac-4144b1e6802c","identifier":"10.13039/501100002367","name":"Chinese Academy of Sciences","awardNumber":"XDB38020200","order_by":0},{"identity":"7a27b2d5-e587-4a9d-944b-44bbe453336d","identifier":"10.13039/501100012165","name":"Key Technologies Research and Development Program","awardNumber":"2017YFA0505502","order_by":1}],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Science and Technology of China","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, metabolic differences","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2668079/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2668079/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on people's lives, and it is therefore necessary to study how to treat COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 invades and reprograms human cells, altering the host cell metabolic system to favor its survival and replication, ultimately leading to disease onset. However, few studies have focused on inhibiting the replication process of SARS-CoV-2. In this paper, we present a novel method to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our method reconstructs network models of the host cell metabolic systems altered by virus invasion and predicts candidate antiviral targets via metabolic differential analysis. We separately analyzed gene expression data from lung and non-lung host cells to perform target prediction. The results indicate that D-alanine is a key metabolite affecting SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our approach is general and applicable to existing viruses, offering new ideas for dealing with viral diseases.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A target prediction method to inhibit the replication process of SARS-CoV-2 via metabolic differential analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2023-04-06 17:08:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2668079/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"52b514b1-0b27-4f76-8e05-cbce1f4fdf3e","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 6th, 2023","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":19749076,"name":"Bioinformatics"},{"id":19749077,"name":"Computational Biology"},{"id":19749078,"name":"Systems Biology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-04-06T17:08:05+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2023-04-06 17:08:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-2668079","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-2668079","identity":"rs-2668079","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"uwybb5PU2iWlRI8EIam5Y","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: preprint-html

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Funding

funders
[{'doi': '10.13039/501100002367', 'name': 'Chinese Academy of Sciences', 'awards': ['XDB38020200']}, {'doi': '10.13039/501100012165', 'name': 'Key Technologies Research and Development Program', 'awards': ['2017YFA0505502']}]

Citation neighborhood (no data yet)

We don't have any in-corpus citations linked to this paper yet. The paper's references may be in our DB but unresolved to ``paper_id`` (resolution happens at ingest when the cited DOI matches a row we already have). Run the cross-source citation reconcile pass to retry.

Source provenance

crossref
last seen: 2026-05-22T01:00:26.057080+00:00
europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-19T01:45:01.086888+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-05-21T02:00:01.467718+00:00
License: CC-BY-4.0