Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Bromhexine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and variant pseudovirus infection via ACE2-targeted mechanisms

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1745277

Figure Lengend Snippet: Immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis of ACE2 in HEK-293 and HEK-293/ACE2 cell lines. (A,C) Immunofluorescence localization of ACE2 proteins (red fluorescence). (B,D) Immunostaining images with primary antibodies omitted (control). All images show cell nuclei stained with DAPI (blue fluorescence). The scale bar represents 20 µm. (E) Representative immunoblots for ACE2 (90 kDa) and Actin (42 kDa) as a loading control are shown for HEK-293 cells and the stable cell line overexpressing human ACE2 (HEK-293/ACE2). (F) The relative abundance of ACE2 protein levels is expressed as the ratio of ACE2 to Actin band intensities. Data are shown as mean ± SEM from three independent experiments.

Article Snippet: Briefly, cells were seeded on coverslips, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 20 min at room temperature, and permeabilized with 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in PBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100 for 30 min. After blocking, cells were incubated overnight at 4 °C with mouse monoclonal primary antibodies against ACE2 (1:50 dilution, sc-390851; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, United States).

Techniques: Immunofluorescence, Western Blot, Fluorescence, Immunostaining, Control, Staining, Stable Transfection

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Bromhexine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and variant pseudovirus infection via ACE2-targeted mechanisms

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1745277

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of bromhexine on SARS-CoV-2 Omicron pseudovirus infectivity in HEK-293/ACE2 cells. (A,C,E) Representative fluorescence microscopy images of cells infected with Omicron pseudovirus treated with 1, 10, and 100 µM bromhexine, respectively. (B) Positive control (Omicron pseudovirus infection without bromhexine). (D) Negative control (cells without Omicron pseudovirus infection or bromhexine). (F) Quantitative analysis of Omicron pseudovirus infection in HEK-293/ACE2 cells, based on the percentage of GFP-positive cells after infection. GFP expression indicates successful pseudovirus entry. Data are presented as means ± SEM ( n = 4) from at least three different experiments. An asterisk (*) indicates statistically significant differences ( p < 0.05) compared to the positive control, determined by one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey HSD test.

Article Snippet: Briefly, cells were seeded on coverslips, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 20 min at room temperature, and permeabilized with 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in PBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100 for 30 min. After blocking, cells were incubated overnight at 4 °C with mouse monoclonal primary antibodies against ACE2 (1:50 dilution, sc-390851; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, United States).

Techniques: Infection, Fluorescence, Microscopy, Positive Control, Negative Control, Expressing

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Bromhexine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and variant pseudovirus infection via ACE2-targeted mechanisms

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1745277

Figure Lengend Snippet: Luciferase activity and IC 50 determination on HEK-293/ACE2 cells. (A) Infectivity of Omicron pseudoviruses was assessed by measuring luciferase activity in relative luminescence units (RLUs) after infecting cells with the viruses. Data are shown as means ± SEM ( n = 4). An asterisk (*) indicates statistically significant differences ( p < 0.05) determined by one-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey HSD test. (B) Dose-response curve used to determine the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of bromhexine in HEK-293/ACE2 cells infected with Omicron pseudovirus, with an IC 50 of 17.3 ± 0.9 µM. Results are presented as means ± SEM ( n = 4). Curves are fitted to a 4-parameter logistic model and generated using the average of fitted parameters from individual experiments.

Article Snippet: Briefly, cells were seeded on coverslips, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 20 min at room temperature, and permeabilized with 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in PBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100 for 30 min. After blocking, cells were incubated overnight at 4 °C with mouse monoclonal primary antibodies against ACE2 (1:50 dilution, sc-390851; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, United States).

Techniques: Luciferase, Activity Assay, Infection, Concentration Assay, Generated

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Bromhexine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and variant pseudovirus infection via ACE2-targeted mechanisms

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1745277

Figure Lengend Snippet: Reduction in infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus variants in HEK-293/ACE2 cells treated with bromhexine. Infectivity of pseudoviruses representing Alpha, Beta, and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants was measured by luciferase activity, expressed in relative luminescence units (RLUs), 48 h after treatment with 40 μM bromhexine or a vehicle (control). The cells were infected with pseudoviruses engineered to express each variant. Data are shown as means ± SEM ( n = 4). An asterisk (*) indicates statistically significant differences ( p < 0.05) compared to the control group, determined by two-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey HSD test.

Article Snippet: Briefly, cells were seeded on coverslips, fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 1x phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 20 min at room temperature, and permeabilized with 2% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in PBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100 for 30 min. After blocking, cells were incubated overnight at 4 °C with mouse monoclonal primary antibodies against ACE2 (1:50 dilution, sc-390851; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, United States).

Techniques: Infection, Luciferase, Activity Assay, Control, Variant Assay

Journal: Cells

Article Title: Effects of Chronic Inflammatory Activation of Murine and Human Arterial Endothelial Cells at Normal Lipoprotein and Cholesterol Levels In Vivo and In Vitro

doi: 10.3390/cells13090773

Figure Lengend Snippet: ACE2 expression in human arterial endothelial cells upon inflammatory activation. Human arterial endothelial cells (HAECs) were treated for different periods of time with TNFα (50 ng/mL) or IL-1β (10 ng/mL), followed by RNA extraction. ( A ) RNA was reversed transcribed, and ACE2 mRNA was measured via quantitative PCR (mean ± SEM, n = 3, ANOVA was performed with GraphPad Prism 6.0 with Fisher’s LSD test between control and treated samples; p -values as indicated). ( B ) ACE2 protein levels were determined in HAECs treated as indicated by immunofluorescence staining and normalization of the staining intensity to the DNA staining (mean values ± SEM, n = 3; ANOVA and Fisher’s LSD test between treated samples and untreated control; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.0001).

Article Snippet: The cells were stained with primary rabbit monoclonal antibody against ACE2 (1:100, #MA5-32307, Invitrogen) and goat anti-rabbit Alexa Fluor 647 (1:500, #A21245, Invitrogen) antibody.

Techniques: Expressing, Activation Assay, RNA Extraction, Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Immunofluorescence, Staining