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Meng H, Zhou J, Wang M, Zheng M, Xing Y, Wang Y. SARS-CoV-2 Papain-like Protease Negatively Regulates the NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway and Pyroptosis by Reducing the Oligomerization and Ubiquitination of ASC. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2799. [PMID: 38004809 PMCID: PMC10673202 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11112799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The interaction of viruses with hosts is complex, especially so with the antiviral immune systems of hosts, and the underlying mechanisms remain perplexing. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 may result in cytokine syndrome in the later stages, reflecting the activation of the antiviral immune response. However, viruses also encode molecules to negatively regulate the antiviral immune systems of hosts to achieve immune evasion and benefit viral replication during the early stage of infection. It has been observed that the papain-like protease (PLP) encoded by coronavirus could negatively regulate the host's IFNβ innate immunity. In this study, we first found that eight inflammasome-related genes were downregulated in CD14+ monocytes from COVID-19 patients. Subsequently, we observed that SARS-CoV-2 PLP negatively regulated the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway, inhibited the secretion of IL-1β, and decreased the caspase-1-mediated pyroptosis of human monocytes. The mechanisms for this may arise because PLP coimmunoprecipitates with ASC, reduces ASC ubiquitination, and inhibits ASC oligomerization and the formation of ASC specks. These findings suggest that PLP may inhibit strong immune defenses and provide the maximum advantage for viral replication. This research may allow us to better understand the flex function of CoV-encoding proteases and provide a new perspective on the innate immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Meng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015, China
- Bioinformatics Center of Academy of Military Medicine Science, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Jianglin Zhou
- Bioinformatics Center of Academy of Military Medicine Science, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Mingyu Wang
- Bioinformatics Center of Academy of Military Medicine Science, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Mei Zheng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015, China
| | - Yaling Xing
- Bioinformatics Center of Academy of Military Medicine Science, Beijing 100850, China
| | - Yajie Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015, China
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52
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Ghosh AK, Shahabi D, Imhoff MEC, Kovela S, Sharma A, Hattori SI, Higashi-Kuwata N, Mitsuya H, Mesecar AD. SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitory and antiviral activity of small molecule derivatives for drug leads. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2023; 96:129489. [PMID: 37770002 PMCID: PMC10842477 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
We report here the synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of small molecule SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors. We compared the activity of selected compounds in both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitory and antiviral assays. We have synthesized and evaluated several new structural variants of previous leads against SARS-CoV-2 PLpro. The replacement of the carboxamide functionality with sulfonamide derivatives resulted in PLpro inhibitors with potent PLpro inhibitory and antiviral activity in VeroE6 cells similar to GRL0617. To obtain molecular insight, we created an optimized model of a potent sulfonamide derivative in the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro active site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arun K Ghosh
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA.
| | - Dana Shahabi
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
| | | | - Satish Kovela
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
| | - Ashish Sharma
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
| | - Shin-Ichiro Hattori
- Department of Refractory Viral Diseases, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655 Japan
| | - Nobuyo Higashi-Kuwata
- Department of Refractory Viral Diseases, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655 Japan
| | - Hiroaki Mitsuya
- Department of Refractory Viral Diseases, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655 Japan; Department of Clinical Sciences, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto 860-8556 Japan; Experimental Retrovirology Section, HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
| | - Andrew D Mesecar
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
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Brewitz L, Henry Chan HT, Lukacik P, Strain-Damerell C, Walsh MA, Duarte F, Schofield CJ. Mass spectrometric assays monitoring the deubiquitinase activity of the SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inform on the basis of substrate selectivity and have utility for substrate identification. Bioorg Med Chem 2023; 95:117498. [PMID: 37857256 PMCID: PMC10933793 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) and main protease (Mpro) are nucleophilic cysteine enzymes that catalyze hydrolysis of the viral polyproteins pp1a/1ab. By contrast with Mpro, PLpro is also a deubiquitinase (DUB) that accepts post-translationally modified human proteins as substrates. Here we report studies on the DUB activity of PLpro using synthetic Nε-lysine-branched oligopeptides as substrates that mimic post-translational protein modifications by ubiquitin (Ub) or Ub-like modifiers (UBLs), such as interferon stimulated gene 15 (ISG15). Mass spectrometry (MS)-based assays confirm the DUB activity of isolated recombinant PLpro. They reveal that the sequence of both the peptide fragment derived from the post-translationally modified protein and that derived from the UBL affects PLpro catalysis; the nature of substrate binding in the S sites appears to be more important for catalytic efficiency than binding in the S' sites. Importantly, the results reflect the reported cellular substrate selectivity of PLpro, i.e. human proteins conjugated to ISG15 are better substrates than those conjugated to Ub or other UBLs. The combined experimental and modelling results imply that PLpro catalysis is affected not only by the identity of the substrate residues binding in the S and S' sites, but also by the substrate fold and the conformational dynamics of the blocking loop 2 of the PLpro:substrate complex. Nε-Lysine-branched oligopeptides thus have potential to help the identification of PLpro substrates. More generally, the results imply that MS-based assays with Nε-lysine-branched oligopeptides have potential to monitor catalysis by human DUBs and hence to inform on their substrate preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lennart Brewitz
- Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TA Oxford, United Kingdom; The Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TA Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - H T Henry Chan
- Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TA Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Petra Lukacik
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0DE Didcot, United Kingdom; Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0FA Didcot, United Kingdom
| | - Claire Strain-Damerell
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0DE Didcot, United Kingdom; Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0FA Didcot, United Kingdom
| | - Martin A Walsh
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0DE Didcot, United Kingdom; Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, OX11 0FA Didcot, United Kingdom
| | - Fernanda Duarte
- Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TA Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher J Schofield
- Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TA Oxford, United Kingdom; The Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TA Oxford, United Kingdom.
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54
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Sayaf AM, Ahmad H, Aslam MA, Ghani SA, Bano S, Yousafi Q, Suleman M, Khan A, Yeoh KK, Wei DQ. Pharmacotherapeutic Potential of Natural Products to Target the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro Using Molecular Screening and Simulation Approaches. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 2023; 195:6959-6978. [PMID: 36961512 PMCID: PMC10037394 DOI: 10.1007/s12010-023-04466-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
Because of the essential role of PLpro in the regulation of replication and dysregulation of the host immune sensing, it is considered a therapeutic target for novel drug development. To reduce the risk of immune evasion and vaccine effectiveness, small molecular therapeutics are the best complementary approach. Hence, we used a structure-based drug-designing approach to identify potential small molecular inhibitors for PLpro of SARS-CoV-2. Initial scoring and re-scoring of the best hits revealed that three compounds NPC320891 (2,2-Dihydroxyindene-1,3-Dione), NPC474594 (Isonarciclasine), and NPC474595 (7-Deoxyisonarciclasine) exhibit higher docking scores than the control GRL0617. Investigation of the binding modes revealed that alongside the essential contacts, i.e., Asp164, Glu167, Tyr264, and Gln269, these molecules also target Lys157 and Tyr268 residues in the active site. Moreover, molecular simulation demonstrated that the reported top hits also possess stable dynamics and structural packing. Furthermore, the residues' flexibility revealed that all the complexes demonstrated higher flexibility in the regions 120-140, 160-180, and 205-215. The 120-140 and 160-180 lie in the finger region of PLpro, which may open/close during the simulation to cover the active site and push the ligand inside. In addition, the total binding free energy was reported to be - 32.65 ± 0.17 kcal/mol for the GRL0617-PLpro, for the NPC320891-PLpro complex, the TBE was - 35.58 ± 0.14 kcal/mol, for the NPC474594-PLpro, the TBE was - 43.72 ± 0.22 kcal/mol, while for NPC474595-PLpro complex, the TBE was calculated to be - 41.61 ± 0.20 kcal/mol, respectively. Clustering of the protein's motion and FEL further revealed that in NPC474594 and NPC474595 complexes, the drug was seen to have moved inside the binding cavity along with the loop in the palm region harboring the catalytic triad, thus justifying the higher binding of these two molecules particularly. In conclusion, the overall results reflect favorable binding of the identified hits strongly than the control drug, thus demanding in vitro and in vivo validation for clinical purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abrar Mohammad Sayaf
- School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM George Town, Penang Malaysia
| | - Hassaan Ahmad
- Rawalpindi Medical University, Chamanzar Colony, Rawalpindi, Punjab 46000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Ammar Aslam
- Rawalpindi Medical University, Chamanzar Colony, Rawalpindi, Punjab 46000, Pakistan
| | | | - Saira Bano
- Department of Botany, University of Okara, Okara, Punjab Pakistan
| | - Qudsia Yousafi
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad-Sahiwal Campus, Sahiwal, Punjab Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Suleman
- Centre for Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Swat, Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan
| | - Abbas Khan
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 People’s Republic of China
- Zhongjing Research and Industrialization, Institute of Chinese Medicine, Zhongguancun Scientific Park, Meixi, Nanyang, Henan 473006 People’s Republic of China
| | - Kar Kheng Yeoh
- School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM George Town, Penang Malaysia
| | - Dong-Qing Wei
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 People’s Republic of China
- Zhongjing Research and Industrialization, Institute of Chinese Medicine, Zhongguancun Scientific Park, Meixi, Nanyang, Henan 473006 People’s Republic of China
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai-Islamabad-Belgrade Joint Innovation Center On Antibacterial Resistances, Joint Laboratory of International Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, Ministry of Education and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 People’s Republic of China
- Peng Cheng Laboratory, Vanke Cloud City Phase I Building 8, Xili Street, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055 People’s Republic of China
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55
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Naz F, Khan I, Baammi S, Islam A. Investigation of the interactions of HSA and SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease against eugenol for novel COVID-19 drug discovery: spectroscopic and insilico study. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:10161-10170. [PMID: 36636828 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2164062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Coronavirus family consist of a member known as SARS-CoV-2, spread drastically in 2019 (Covid-19), affecting millions of people worldwide. Till date there is no clear-clinical therapy or drug, targeted to cure this serious disease. Researches are going on to prevent this corona virus. Here, we tried to explore a novel SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease as a potential inhibitor. Finally, eugenol was docked with this protease to find prime SARS-inhibitors. In silico studies revealed that eugenol binds to the active site of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease with appropriate binding. Moreover, the MD simulation for 100 ns and MMPBSA calculation reveals that eugenol possess potential phytotherapeutic properties against COVID-19. The interaction of eugenol with human serum albumin has been examined by using fluorescence, UV-vis spectroscopy, circular dichroism as well as computational techniques such as molecular docking, molecular dynamic simulation and MMPBSA calculation. Overall investigation shows eugenol having good affinity for HSA Ka 6.80 × 106 M-1.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farheen Naz
- Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Imran Khan
- Department of Computer Science, Deanship of Educational Services, Qassim University, Buraidah, Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia
| | - Soukayna Baammi
- African Genome Centre (AGC), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Benguerir, Morocco
| | - Asimul Islam
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
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56
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Liu W, Wang J, Wang S, Yue K, Hu Y, Liu X, Wang L, Wan S, Xu X. Discovery of new non-covalent and covalent inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease and main protease. Bioorg Chem 2023; 140:106830. [PMID: 37683544 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic still threatens human health and public safety, and the development of effective antiviral agent is urgently needed. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) and papain-like protease (PLpro) are vital proteins in viral replication and promising therapeutic targets. Additionally, PLpro also modulates host immune response by cleaving ubiquitin and interferon-stimulated gene product 15 (ISG15) from ISGylated host proteins. In this report, we identified [1,2]selenazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3(2H)-one and benzo[d]isothiazol-3(2H)-one as attractive scaffolds of PLpro and Mpro inhibitors. The representative compounds 6c and 7e exhibited excellent PLpro inhibition with percent inhibition of 42.9% and 44.9% at 50 nM, respectively. The preliminary enzyme kinetics experiment and fluorescent labelling experiment results determined that 6c was identified as a covalent PLpro inhibitor, while 7e was a non-covalent inhibitor. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations revealed that 6c and 7e bound to Zn-finger domain of PLpro. Compounds 6c and 7e were also identified to potent Mpro inhibitors, and they exhibited potent antiviral activities in SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells, with EC50 value of 3.9 μM and 7.4 μM, respectively. In addition, the rat liver homogenate half-life of 6c and 7e exceeded 24 h. These findings suggest that 6c and 7e are promising led compounds for further development of PLpro/Mpro dual-target antiviral drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wandong Liu
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Juan Wang
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Suyun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430071 Wuhan, China
| | - Kairui Yue
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Yu Hu
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Xiaochun Liu
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Lihao Wang
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Shengbiao Wan
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China.
| | - Ximing Xu
- Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, 266003 Qingdao, China.
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Ardanuy J, Johnson R, Dillen C, Taylor L, Hammond H, Weston S, Frieman M. Pyronaridine tetraphosphate is an efficacious antiviral and anti-inflammatory active against multiple highly pathogenic coronaviruses. mBio 2023; 14:e0158723. [PMID: 37581442 PMCID: PMC10653794 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01587-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Pyronaridine tetraphosphate is on the WHO Essential Medicine List for its importance as a widely available and safe treatment for malaria. We find that pyronaridine is a highly effective antiviral therapeutic across mouse models using multiple variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the highly pathogenic viruses SARS-CoV-1 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus responsible for previous coronavirus outbreaks. Additionally, we find that pyronaridine additively combines with current COVID-19 treatments such as nirmatrelvir (protease inhibitor in Paxlovid) and molnupiravir to further inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infections. There are many antiviral compounds that demonstrate efficacy in cellular models, but few that show this level of impact in multiple mouse models and represent a promising therapeutic for the current coronavirus pandemic as well as future outbreaks as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Ardanuy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Robert Johnson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Carly Dillen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Louis Taylor
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Holly Hammond
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Stuart Weston
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Matthew Frieman
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Pathogen Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Duan L, Tang B, Luo S, Xiong D, Wang Q, Xu X, Zhang JZH. Entropy driven cooperativity effect in multi-site drug optimization targeting SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease. Cell Mol Life Sci 2023; 80:313. [PMID: 37796323 PMCID: PMC11072831 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-023-04985-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Papain-like protease (PLpro), a non-structural protein encoded by SARS-CoV-2, is an important therapeutic target. Regions 1 and 5 of an existing drug, GRL0617, can be optimized to produce cooperativity with PLpro binding, resulting in stronger binding affinity. This work investigated the origin of the cooperativity using molecular dynamics simulations combined with the interaction entropy (IE) method. The regions' improvement exhibits cooperativity by calculating the binding free energies between the complex of PLpro-inhibitor. The thermodynamic integration method further verified the cooperativity generated in the drug improvement. To further determine the specific source of cooperativity, enthalpy and entropy in the complexes were calculated using molecular mechanics/generalized Born surface area and IE. The results show that the entropic change is an important contributor to the cooperativity. Our study also identified residues P248, Q269, and T301 that play a significant role in cooperativity. The optimization of the inhibitor stabilizes these residues and minimizes the entropic loss, and the cooperativity observed in the binding free energy can be attributed to the change in the entropic contribution of these residues. Based on our research, the application of cooperativity can facilitate drug optimization, and provide theoretical ideas for drug development that leverage cooperativity by reducing the contribution of entropy through multi-locus binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lili Duan
- School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China.
| | - Bolin Tang
- School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Song Luo
- School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Danyang Xiong
- School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Qihang Wang
- School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Xiaole Xu
- School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - John Z H Zhang
- Faculty of Synthetic Biology and Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
- NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, 200062, China.
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
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59
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Rehman MU, Ali A, Ansar R, Arafah A, Imtiyaz Z, Wani TA, Zargar S, Ganie SA. In Silico molecular docking and dynamic analysis of natural compounds against major non-structural proteins of SARS-COV-2. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:9072-9088. [PMID: 36326281 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2139766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
COVID-19 has infected millions and significantly affected the global economy and healthcare systems. Despite continuous lockdowns, symptomatic management with currently available medications, and numerous vaccination drives, it is still far more difficult to control. Against COVID-19 infection, the pressure to develop vaccines and drugs has led to using some currently available medications like remdesivir, azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine and ritonavir. Understanding the importance and potential of harmless molecules to tackle SARS-COV-2, we designed the present study to identify potential natural phytocompounds. In the present study, we docked natural compounds and standard drugs against SARS-COV-2 proteins: papain-like protease, main protease and helicase. ADME/T and ProTox-II analyses were used to determine the toxicity of phytocompounds and drugs. The docking analysis revealed that podophyllotoxin gave the highest binding affinity scores of -8.1, -7.1 and -7.4 kcal/mol against PLpro, Mpro and helicase, respectively. Among the control drugs, doxycycline hydrochloride showed the highest binding affinity of -10.5, -8.4 and -8.8 kcal/mol against PLpro, Mpro and helicase. The results of this study revealed that podophyllotoxin and doxycycline hydrochloride could be promising inhibitors against SARS-Cov-2. Molecular dynamic simulations were executed for the best docked (PLpro-podophyllotoxin) complex, and the results displayed stable conformation and convergence. Energy plot results predicted a global minima average energy of -95 kcal/mol and indicated podophyllotoxin's role in stabilizing protein and making it compact and complex. FarPPI server used MM/GBSA approach to determine free binding affinity, and helicase-gallic acid complex showed the highest affinity, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is still a need for in vitro and in vivo studies to support further and validate these findings and validate these findings.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muneeb U Rehman
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Aarif Ali
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, J&K, India
| | - Ruhban Ansar
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, J&K, India
| | - Azher Arafah
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zuha Imtiyaz
- Department of Pathology, University Maryland School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Tanveer A Wani
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Seema Zargar
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Showkat A Ganie
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, J&K, India
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Kosenko M, Onkhonova G, Susloparov I, Ryzhikov A. SARS-CoV-2 proteins structural studies using synchrotron radiation. Biophys Rev 2023; 15:1185-1194. [PMID: 37974992 PMCID: PMC10643813 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01153-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
In the process of the development of structural biology, both the size and the complexity of the determined macromolecular structures have grown significantly. As a result, the range of application areas for the results of structural studies of biological macromolecules has expanded. Significant progress in the development of structural biology methods has been largely achieved through the use of synchrotron radiation. Modern sources of synchrotron radiation allow to conduct high-performance structural studies with high temporal and spatial resolution. Thus, modern techniques make it possible to obtain not only static structures, but also to study dynamic processes, which play a key role in understanding biological mechanisms. One of the key directions in the development of structural research is the drug design based on the structures of biomolecules. Synchrotron radiation offers insights into the three-dimensional time-resolved structure of individual viral proteins and their complexes at atomic resolution. The rapid and accurate determination of protein structures is crucial for understanding viral pathogenicity and designing targeted therapeutics. Through the application of experimental techniques, including X-ray crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), it is possible to elucidate the structural details of SARS-CoV-2 virion containing 4 structural, 16 nonstructural proteins (nsp), and several accessory proteins. The most studied potential targets for vaccines and drugs are the structural spike (S) protein, which is responsible for entering the host cell, as well as nonstructural proteins essential for replication and transcription, such as main protease (Mpro), papain-like protease (PLpro), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). This article provides a brief overview of structural analysis techniques, with focus on synchrotron radiation-based methods applied to the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maksim Kosenko
- Federal Budgetary Research Institution State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” Rospotrebnadzor, Koltsovo, 630559 Russia
| | - Galina Onkhonova
- Federal Budgetary Research Institution State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” Rospotrebnadzor, Koltsovo, 630559 Russia
| | - Ivan Susloparov
- Federal Budgetary Research Institution State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” Rospotrebnadzor, Koltsovo, 630559 Russia
| | - Alexander Ryzhikov
- Federal Budgetary Research Institution State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” Rospotrebnadzor, Koltsovo, 630559 Russia
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G F N, V V, M G, S M, M P. Surface enhanced Raman scattering investigation of tecovirimat on silver, gold and platinum loaded silica nanocomposites: Theoretical analysis (DFT) and molecular modeling. Heliyon 2023; 9:e21122. [PMID: 37916120 PMCID: PMC10616345 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
As of today, there have been 612 million confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) around the world, with over 6 million fatalities. Tecovirimat (TPOXX) is an anti-viral drug, and it was the first drug approved for the treatment of anti-pox virus in the US. However, the effectiveness of this drug against COVID-19 has not yet been explored. Since TPOXX is an anti-viral drug, an attempt has been made to determine its ability to act as a COVID inhibitor. Recent medical advances have resulted in the development of nano cage-based drug delivery. Drug delivery clusters based on nano cages have recently been used in the medical industry. As such, we used DFT coupled to the B3LYP/LANL2DZ basis set to study the adsorption behavior of the anti-viral drug TPOXX on Au/Ag/Pt⋯SiO2loaded silica nanocomposites. In order to identify the active site of the molecule, we have used the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) theory of molecular electrostatic potential (MEP). The compound and its complexes obey Lipinski's rule of five and have good drug-likeness properties based on the bioactivity evaluation. The biological properties of organic molecules and nano metal clusters were compared. The TPOXX with its nanocomposites was also studied in terms of Electron Localization Function (ELF) and Localized Orbital Locator (LOL). Molecular docking was performed for both pure molecule and its silica nanocomposites-doped derivatives with the chosen proteins to discuss the protein-ligand binding properties. These results could be more helpful in designing the drug and exploring its application for the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nivetha G F
- Department of Physics, Periyar University Centre for Post Graduate and Research Studies, Dharmapuri, 635205, India
| | - Vetrivelan V
- Department of Physics, Government College of Engineering, Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, 620012, Tamilnadu, India
| | - Govindammal M
- Department of Physics, Government Arts College, Dharmapuri, 636705, India
| | - Muthu S
- Department of Physics, Arignar Anna Govt. Arts College, Cheyyar, 604407, Tamilnadu, India
| | - Prasath M
- Department of Physics, Periyar University Centre for Post Graduate and Research Studies, Dharmapuri, 635205, India
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62
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Maiti P, Nand M, Mathpal S, Wahab S, Kuniyal JC, Sharma P, Joshi T, Ramakrishnan MA, Chandra S. Potent multi-target natural inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 from medicinal plants of the Himalaya: a discovery from hybrid machine learning, chemoinformatics, and simulation assisted screening. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023:1-14. [PMID: 37732349 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2257333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
The emergence and immune evasion ability of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strains, mainly BA.5.2 and BF.7 and other variants of concern have raised global apprehensions. With this context, the discovery of multitarget inhibitors may be proven more comprehensive paradigm than its one-drug-to-one target counterpart. In the current study, a library of 271 phytochemicals from 25 medicinal plants from the Indian Himalayan Region has been virtually screened against SARS-CoV-2 by targeting nine virus proteins, viz., papain-like protease, main protease, nsp12, helicase, nsp14, nsp15, nsp16, envelope, and nucleocapsid for screening of a multi-target inhibitor against the viral replication. Initially, 94 phytochemicals were screened by a hybrid machine learning model constructed by combining 6 confirmatory bioassays against SARS-CoV-2 replication using an instance-based learner lazy k-nearest neighbour classifier. Further, 25 screened compounds with excellent drug-like properties were subjected to molecular docking. The phytochemical Cepharadione A from the plant Piper longum showed binding potential against four proteins with the highest binding energy of -10.90 kcal/mol. The compound has acceptable absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity properties and exhibits stable binding behaviour in terms of root mean square deviation (0.068 ± 0.05 nm), root-mean-square fluctuation, hydrogen bonds, solvent accessible surface area (83.88-161.89 nm2), and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area during molecular dynamics simulation of 200 ns with selected target proteins. Concerning the utility of natural compounds in the therapeutics formulation, Cepharadione A could be further investigated as a remarkable lead candidate for the development of therapeutic drugs against SARS-CoV-2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priyanka Maiti
- G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Almora, India
| | - Mahesha Nand
- G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Almora, India
| | - Shalini Mathpal
- Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, India
| | - Shadma Wahab
- Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Priyanka Sharma
- Department of Botany, D.S.B. Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital, India
| | - Tushar Joshi
- Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, India
| | | | - Subhash Chandra
- Department of Botany, Soban Singh Jeena University, Almora, India
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63
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Leonard RA, Rao VN, Bartlett A, Froggatt HM, Luftig MA, Heaton BE, Heaton NS. A low-background, fluorescent assay to evaluate inhibitors of diverse viral proteases. J Virol 2023; 97:e0059723. [PMID: 37578235 PMCID: PMC10506478 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00597-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple coronaviruses (CoVs) can cause respiratory diseases in humans. While prophylactic vaccines designed to prevent infection are available for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), incomplete vaccine efficacy, vaccine hesitancy, and the threat of other pathogenic CoVs for which vaccines do not exist have highlighted the need for effective antiviral therapies. While antiviral compounds targeting the viral polymerase and protease are already in clinical use, their sensitivity to potential resistance mutations as well as their breadth against the full range of human and preemergent CoVs remain incompletely defined. To begin to fill that gap in knowledge, we report here the development of an improved, noninfectious, cell-based fluorescent assay with high sensitivity and low background that reports on the activity of viral proteases, which are key drug targets. We demonstrate that the assay is compatible with not only the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protein but also orthologues from a range of human and nonhuman CoVs as well as clinically reported SARS-CoV-2 drug-resistant Mpro variants. We then use this assay to define the breadth of activity of two clinically used protease inhibitors, nirmatrelvir and ensitrelvir. Continued use of this assay will help define the strengths and limitations of current therapies and may also facilitate the development of next-generation protease inhibitors that are broadly active against both currently circulating and preemergent CoVs. IMPORTANCE Coronaviruses (CoVs) are important human pathogens with the ability to cause global pandemics. Working in concert with vaccines, antivirals specifically limit viral disease in people who are actively infected. Antiviral compounds that target CoV proteases are already in clinical use; their efficacy against variant proteases and preemergent zoonotic CoVs, however, remains incompletely defined. Here, we report an improved, noninfectious, and highly sensitive fluorescent method of defining the sensitivity of CoV proteases to small molecule inhibitors. We use this approach to assay the activity of current antiviral therapies against clinically reported SARS-CoV-2 protease mutants and a panel of highly diverse CoV proteases. Additionally, we show this system is adaptable to other structurally nonrelated viral proteases. In the future, this assay can be used to not only better define the strengths and limitations of current therapies but also help develop new, broadly acting inhibitors that more broadly target viral families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A. Leonard
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Vishwas N. Rao
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Alexandria Bartlett
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Heather M. Froggatt
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Micah A. Luftig
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Duke Center for Virology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Brook E. Heaton
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Nicholas S. Heaton
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Duke Center for Virology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
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Yang S, Multani A, Garrigues JM, Oh MS, Hemarajata P, Burleson T, Green NM, Oliai C, Gaynor PT, Beaird OE, Winston DJ, Seet CS, Schaenman JM. Transient SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Mutations after Remdesivir Treatment for Chronic COVID-19 in Two Transplant Recipients: Case Report and Intra-Host Viral Genomic Investigation. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2096. [PMID: 37630656 PMCID: PMC10460003 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11082096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Remdesivir is the first FDA-approved drug for treating severe SARS-CoV-2 infection and targets RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) that is required for viral replication. To monitor for the development of mutations that may result in remdesivir resistance during prolonged treatment, we sequenced SARS-CoV-2 specimens collected at different treatment time points in two transplant patients with severe COVID-19. In the first patient, an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient, a transient RdRp catalytic subunit mutation (nsp12:A449V) was observed that has not previously been associated with remdesivir resistance. As no in vitro study had been conducted to elucidate the phenotypic effect of nsp12:A449V, its clinical significance is unclear. In the second patient, two other transient RdRp mutations were detected: one in the catalytic subunit (nsp12:V166A) and the other in an accessory subunit important for processivity (nsp7:D67N). This is the first case report for a potential link between the nsp12:V166A mutation and remdesivir resistance in vivo, which had only been previously described by in vitro studies. The nsp7:D67N mutation has not previously been associated with remdesivir resistance, and whether it has a phenotypic effect is unknown. Our study revealed SARS-CoV-2 genetic dynamics during remdesivir treatment in transplant recipients that involved mutations in the RdRp complex (nsp7 and nsp12), which may be the result of selective pressure. These results suggest that close monitoring for potential resistance during the course of remdesivir treatment in highly vulnerable patient populations may be beneficial. Development and utilization of diagnostic RdRp genotyping tests may be a future direction for improving the management of chronic COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shangxin Yang
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Ashrit Multani
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (A.M.); (P.T.G.); (O.E.B.)
| | - Jacob M. Garrigues
- Public Health Laboratories, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Downey, CA 90242, USA (P.H.); (T.B.); (N.M.G.)
| | - Michael S. Oh
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (M.S.O.); (C.O.); (D.J.W.)
| | - Peera Hemarajata
- Public Health Laboratories, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Downey, CA 90242, USA (P.H.); (T.B.); (N.M.G.)
| | - Taylor Burleson
- Public Health Laboratories, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Downey, CA 90242, USA (P.H.); (T.B.); (N.M.G.)
| | - Nicole M. Green
- Public Health Laboratories, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Downey, CA 90242, USA (P.H.); (T.B.); (N.M.G.)
| | - Caspian Oliai
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (M.S.O.); (C.O.); (D.J.W.)
| | - Pryce T. Gaynor
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (A.M.); (P.T.G.); (O.E.B.)
| | - Omer E. Beaird
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (A.M.); (P.T.G.); (O.E.B.)
| | - Drew J. Winston
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (M.S.O.); (C.O.); (D.J.W.)
| | - Christopher S. Seet
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (M.S.O.); (C.O.); (D.J.W.)
| | - Joanna M. Schaenman
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; (A.M.); (P.T.G.); (O.E.B.)
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65
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Jamir E, Sarma H, Priyadarsinee L, Kiewhuo K, Nagamani S, Sastry GN. Polypharmacology guided drug repositioning approach for SARS-CoV2. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289890. [PMID: 37556478 PMCID: PMC10411734 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug repurposing has emerged as an important strategy and it has a great potential in identifying therapeutic applications for COVID-19. An extensive virtual screening of 4193 FDA approved drugs has been carried out against 24 proteins of SARS-CoV2 (NSP1-10 and NSP12-16, envelope, membrane, nucleoprotein, spike, ORF3a, ORF6, ORF7a, ORF8, and ORF9b). The drugs were classified into top 10 and bottom 10 drugs based on the docking scores followed by the distribution of their therapeutic indications. As a result, the top 10 drugs were found to have therapeutic indications for cancer, pain, neurological disorders, and viral and bacterial diseases. As drug resistance is one of the major challenges in antiviral drug discovery, polypharmacology and network pharmacology approaches were employed in the study to identify drugs interacting with multiple targets and drugs such as dihydroergotamine, ergotamine, bisdequalinium chloride, midostaurin, temoporfin, tirilazad, and venetoclax were identified among the multi-targeting drugs. Further, a pathway analysis of the genes related to the multi-targeting drugs was carried which provides insight into the mechanism of drugs and identifying targetable genes and biological pathways involved in SARS-CoV2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Jamir
- Advanced Computation and Data Sciences Division, CSIR–North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Himakshi Sarma
- Advanced Computation and Data Sciences Division, CSIR–North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
| | - Lipsa Priyadarsinee
- Advanced Computation and Data Sciences Division, CSIR–North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Kikrusenuo Kiewhuo
- Advanced Computation and Data Sciences Division, CSIR–North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - Selvaraman Nagamani
- Advanced Computation and Data Sciences Division, CSIR–North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
| | - G. Narahari Sastry
- Advanced Computation and Data Sciences Division, CSIR–North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, India
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66
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Shiraishi Y, Shimada I. NMR Characterization of the Papain-like Protease from SARS-CoV-2 Identifies the Conformational Heterogeneity in Its Inhibitor-Binding Site. J Am Chem Soc 2023. [PMID: 37478405 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c04115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Papain-like protease (PLpro) from severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a prime target for the development of antivirals for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, drugs that target the PLpro protein have not yet been approved. In order to gain insights into the development of a PLpro inhibitor, conformational dynamics of PLpro in complex with GRL0617, the most well-characterized PLpro inhibitor, were investigated using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in solution. Although mutational analyses demonstrated that the L162 sidechain interaction is responsible for the affinity for GRL0617, NMR analyses revealed that L162 in the inhibitor-binding pocket underwent conformational exchange and was not fixed in the conformation in which it formed a contact with ortho-methyl group of GRL0617. The identified conformational dynamics would provide a rationale for the binding mechanism of a covalent inhibitor designed based on GRL0617.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutaro Shiraishi
- Laboratory for Dynamic Structure of Biomolecules, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR), 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan
| | - Ichio Shimada
- Laboratory for Dynamic Structure of Biomolecules, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR), 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan
- Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, 1-4-4, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
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67
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Hetmann M, Langner C, Durmaz V, Cespugli M, Köchl K, Krassnigg A, Blaschitz K, Groiss S, Loibner M, Ruau D, Zatloukal K, Gruber K, Steinkellner G, Gruber CC. Identification and validation of fusidic acid and flufenamic acid as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 replication using DrugSolver CavitomiX. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11783. [PMID: 37479788 PMCID: PMC10362000 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39071-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023] Open
Abstract
In this work, we present DrugSolver CavitomiX, a novel computational pipeline for drug repurposing and identifying ligands and inhibitors of target enzymes. The pipeline is based on cavity point clouds representing physico-chemical properties of the cavity induced solely by the protein. To test the pipeline's ability to identify inhibitors, we chose enzymes essential for SARS-CoV-2 replication as a test system. The active-site cavities of the viral enzymes main protease (Mpro) and papain-like protease (Plpro), as well as of the human transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2), were selected as target cavities. Using active-site point-cloud comparisons, it was possible to identify two compounds-flufenamic acid and fusidic acid-which show strong inhibition of viral replication. The complexes from which fusidic acid and flufenamic acid were derived would not have been identified using classical sequence- and structure-based methods as they show very little structural (TM-score: 0.1 and 0.09, respectively) and very low sequence (~ 5%) identity to Mpro and TMPRSS2, respectively. Furthermore, a cavity-based off-target screening was performed using acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as an example. Using cavity comparisons, the human carboxylesterase was successfully identified, which is a described off-target for AChE inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Hetmann
- Innophore, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
| | - C Langner
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - V Durmaz
- Innophore, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - K Köchl
- Innophore, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | | | - S Groiss
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - M Loibner
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - D Ruau
- NVIDIA, Santa Clara, CA, USA
| | - K Zatloukal
- Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - K Gruber
- Innophore, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria
- Field of Excellence BioHealth - University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - G Steinkellner
- Innophore, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
- Field of Excellence BioHealth - University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - C C Gruber
- Innophore, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Graz, Austria.
- Field of Excellence BioHealth - University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
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68
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Hamdy ME, El Deeb AH, Hagag NM, Shahein MA, Alaidi O, Hussein HA. Interspecies transmission of SARS CoV-2 with special emphasis on viral mutations and ACE-2 receptor homology roles. Int J Vet Sci Med 2023; 11:55-86. [PMID: 37441062 PMCID: PMC10334861 DOI: 10.1080/23144599.2023.2222981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in 2019, Wuhan, China. The spillover of the disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), to a wide range of pet, zoo, wild, and farm animals has emphasized potential zoonotic and reverse zoonotic viral transmission. Furthermore, it has evoked inquiries about susceptibility of different animal species to SARS-CoV-2 infection and role of these animals as viral reservoirs. Therefore, studying susceptible and non-susceptible hosts for SARS-CoV-2 infection could give a better understanding for the virus and will help in preventing further outbreaks. Here, we review structural aspects of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, the effect of the different mutations observed in the spike protein, and the impact of ACE2 receptor variations in different animal hosts on inter-species transmission. Moreover, the SARS-CoV-2 spillover chain was reviewed. Combination of SARS-CoV-2 high mutation rate and homology of cellular ACE2 receptors enable the virus to transcend species barriers and facilitate its transmission between humans and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mervat E. Hamdy
- Genome Research Unit, Animal Health Research Institute, Agriculture Research Centre, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ayman H. El Deeb
- Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
- Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, King Salman International University, South Sinai, Egypt
| | - Naglaa M. Hagag
- Genome Research Unit, Animal Health Research Institute, Agriculture Research Centre, Giza, Egypt
| | - Momtaz A. Shahein
- Department of Virology, Animal Health Research Institute, Agriculture Research Centre, Giza, Egypt
| | - Osama Alaidi
- Biocomplexity for Research and Consulting Co., Cairo, Egypt
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
- Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Hussein A. Hussein
- Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
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69
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Marković S, Andrejević NS, Milošević J, Polović NĐ. Structural Transitions of Papain-like Cysteine Proteases: Implications for Sensor Development. Biomimetics (Basel) 2023; 8:281. [PMID: 37504169 PMCID: PMC10807080 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics8030281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The significant role of papain-like cysteine proteases, including papain, cathepsin L and SARS-CoV-2 PLpro, in biomedicine and biotechnology makes them interesting model systems for sensor development. These enzymes have a free thiol group that is suitable for many sensor designs including strong binding to gold nanoparticles or low-molecular-weight inhibitors. Focusing on the importance of the preservation of native protein structure for inhibitor-binding and molecular-imprinting, which has been applied in some efficient examples of sensor development, the aim of this work was to examine the effects of the free-thiol-group's reversible blocking on papain denaturation that is the basis of its activity loss and aggregation. To utilize biophysical methods common in protein structural transitions characterization, such as fluorimetry and high-resolution infrared spectroscopy, low-molecular-weight electrophilic thiol blocking reagent S-Methyl methanethiosulfonate (MMTS) was used in solution. MMTS binding led to a two-fold increase in 8-Anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid fluorescence, indicating increased hydrophobic residue exposure. A more in-depth analysis showed significant transitions on the secondary structure level upon MMTS binding, mostly characterized by the lowered content of α-helices and unordered structures (either for approximately one third), and the increase in aggregation-specific β-sheets (from 25 to 52%) in a dose-dependant manner. The recovery of this inhibited protein showed that reversibility of inhibition is accompanied by reversibility of protein denaturation. Nevertheless, a 100-fold molar excess of the inhibitor led to the incomplete recovery of proteolytic activity, which can be explained by irreversible denaturation. The structural stability of the C-terminal β-sheet rich domain of the papain-like cysteine protease family opens up an interesting possibility to use its foldamers as a strategy for sensor development and other multiple potential applications that rely on the great commercial value of papain-like cysteine proteases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Natalija Đ. Polović
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 12-16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
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von Delft A, Hall MD, Kwong AD, Purcell LA, Saikatendu KS, Schmitz U, Tallarico JA, Lee AA. Accelerating antiviral drug discovery: lessons from COVID-19. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2023; 22:585-603. [PMID: 37173515 PMCID: PMC10176316 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-023-00692-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a wave of rapid and collaborative drug discovery efforts took place in academia and industry, culminating in several therapeutics being discovered, approved and deployed in a 2-year time frame. This article summarizes the collective experience of several pharmaceutical companies and academic collaborations that were active in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antiviral discovery. We outline our opinions and experiences on key stages in the small-molecule drug discovery process: target selection, medicinal chemistry, antiviral assays, animal efficacy and attempts to pre-empt resistance. We propose strategies that could accelerate future efforts and argue that a key bottleneck is the lack of quality chemical probes around understudied viral targets, which would serve as a starting point for drug discovery. Considering the small size of the viral proteome, comprehensively building an arsenal of probes for proteins in viruses of pandemic concern is a worthwhile and tractable challenge for the community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette von Delft
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute for Health Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Matthew D Hall
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Alpha A Lee
- PostEra, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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71
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Onyango OH. In Silico Models for Anti-COVID-19 Drug Discovery: A Systematic Review. Adv Pharmacol Pharm Sci 2023; 2023:4562974. [PMID: 37362912 PMCID: PMC10287514 DOI: 10.1155/2023/4562974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe worldwide pandemic. Due to the emergence of various SARS-CoV-2 variants and the presence of only one Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved anti-COVID-19 drug (remdesivir), the disease remains a mindboggling global public health problem. Developing anti-COVID-19 drug candidates that are effective against SARS-CoV-2 and its various variants is a pressing need that should be satisfied. This systematic review assesses the existing literature that used in silico models during the discovery procedure of anti-COVID-19 drugs. Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed were used to conduct a literature search to find the relevant articles utilizing the search terms "In silico model," "COVID-19," "Anti-COVID-19 drug," "Drug discovery," "Computational drug designing," and "Computer-aided drug design." Studies published in English between 2019 and December 2022 were included in the systematic review. From the 1120 articles retrieved from the databases and reference lists, only 33 were included in the review after the removal of duplicates, screening, and eligibility assessment. Most of the articles are studies that use SARS-CoV-2 proteins as drug targets. Both ligand-based and structure-based methods were utilized to obtain lead anti-COVID-19 drug candidates. Sixteen articles also assessed absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity (ADMET), and drug-likeness properties. Confirmation of the inhibitory ability of the candidate leads by in vivo or in vitro assays was reported in only five articles. Virtual screening, molecular docking (MD), and molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) emerged as the most commonly utilized in silico models for anti-COVID-19 drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Okello Harrison Onyango
- Department of Biological Sciences, Molecular Biology, Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Section, School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P.O. BOX 190, 50100 Kakamega, Kenya
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Tassakka ACMAR, Iskandar IW, Alam JF, Permana AD, Massi MN, Jompa J, Liao LM. Docking Studies and Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Potential Inhibitors from the Brown Seaweed Sargassum polycystum (Phaeophyceae) against PLpro of SARS-CoV-2. BIOTECH 2023; 12:46. [PMID: 37366794 DOI: 10.3390/biotech12020046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 disease is a major problem affecting human health all over the world. Consequently, researchers have been trying to find solutions to treat this pandemic-scale disease. Even if there are vaccines and approved drugs that could decrease the spread of this pandemic, multidisciplinary approaches are still needed to identify new small molecules as alternatives to combat COVID-19, especially those from nature. In this study, we employed computational approaches by screening 17 natural compounds from the tropical brown seaweed Sargassum polycystum known to have anti-viral properties that benefit human health. This study assessed some seaweed natural products that are bound to the PLpro of SARS-CoV-2. By employing pharmacophore and molecular docking, these natural compounds from S. polycystum showed remarkable scores for protein targets with competitive scores compared to X-ray crystallography ligands and well-known antiviral compounds. This study provides insightful information for advanced study and further in vitro examination and clinical investigation for drug development prospects of abundant yet underexploited tropical seaweeds.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jamaluddin Fitrah Alam
- Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
| | - Andi Dian Permana
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
| | | | - Jamaluddin Jompa
- Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
| | - Lawrence Manzano Liao
- Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
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73
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Bajaj T, Wehri E, Suryawanshi RK, King E, Pardeshi KS, Behrouzi K, Khodabakhshi Z, Schulze-Gahmen U, Kumar GR, Mofrad MRK, Nomura DK, Ott M, Schaletzky J, Murthy N. Mercapto-pyrimidines are reversible covalent inhibitors of the papain-like protease (PLpro) and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV-2) replication. RSC Adv 2023; 13:17667-17677. [PMID: 37312993 PMCID: PMC10259201 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra01915b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The papain-like protease (PLpro) plays a critical role in SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV-2) pathogenesis and is essential for viral replication and for allowing the virus to evade the host immune response. Inhibitors of PLpro have great therapeutic potential, however, developing them has been challenging due to PLpro's restricted substrate binding pocket. In this report, we screened a 115 000-compound library for PLpro inhibitors and identified a new pharmacophore, based on a mercapto-pyrimidine fragment that is a reversible covalent inhibitor (RCI) of PLpro and inhibits viral replication in cells. Compound 5 had an IC50 of 5.1 μM for PLpro inhibition and hit optimization yielded a derivative with increased potency (IC50 0.85 μM, 6-fold higher). Activity based profiling of compound 5 demonstrated that it reacts with PLpro cysteines. We show here that compound 5 represents a new class of RCIs, which undergo an addition elimination reaction with cysteines in their target proteins. We further show that their reversibility is catalyzed by exogenous thiols and is dependent on the size of the incoming thiol. In contrast, traditional RCIs are all based upon the Michael addition reaction mechanism and their reversibility is base-catalyzed. We identify a new class of RCIs that introduces a more reactive warhead with a pronounced selectivity profile based on thiol ligand size. This could allow the expansion of RCI modality use towards a larger group of proteins important for human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teena Bajaj
- Graduate Program of Comparative Biochemistry, University of California Berkeley CA USA
| | - Eddie Wehri
- The Henry Wheeler Center of Emerging and Neglected Diseases 344 Li Ka Shing Berkeley CA USA
| | | | - Elizabeth King
- Chemical Biology Graduate Program, University of California Berkeley CA USA
| | | | - Kamyar Behrouzi
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley CA USA
| | | | | | - G Renuka Kumar
- Gladstone Institute of Virology Gladstone Institutes San Francisco CA USA
| | | | - Daniel K Nomura
- Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley CA USA
| | - Melanie Ott
- Gladstone Institute of Virology Gladstone Institutes San Francisco CA USA
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco CA USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco CA USA
| | - Julia Schaletzky
- The Henry Wheeler Center of Emerging and Neglected Diseases 344 Li Ka Shing Berkeley CA USA
| | - Niren Murthy
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley CA USA
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Raïch-Regué D, Tenorio R, Fernández de Castro I, Tarrés-Freixas F, Sachse M, Perez-Zsolt D, Muñoz-Basagoiti J, Fernández-Sánchez SY, Gallemí M, Ortega-González P, Fernández-Oliva A, Gabaldón JA, Nuñez-Delicado E, Casas J, Roca N, Cantero G, Pérez M, Usai C, Lorca-Oró C, Alert JV, Segalés J, Carrillo J, Blanco J, Clotet Sala B, Cerón-Carrasco JP, Izquierdo-Useros N, Risco C. β-Cyclodextrins as affordable antivirals to treat coronavirus infection. Biomed Pharmacother 2023; 164:114997. [PMID: 37311279 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic made evident that there are only a few drugs against coronavirus. Here we aimed to identify a cost-effective antiviral with broad spectrum activity and high safety profile. Starting from a list of 116 drug candidates, we used molecular modelling tools to rank the 44 most promising inhibitors. Next, we tested their efficacy as antivirals against α and β coronaviruses, such as the HCoV-229E and SARS-CoV-2 variants. Four drugs, OSW-1, U18666A, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HβCD) and phytol, showed in vitro antiviral activity against HCoV-229E and SARS-CoV-2. The mechanism of action of these compounds was studied by transmission electron microscopy and by fusion assays measuring SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviral entry into target cells. Entry was inhibited by HβCD and U18666A, yet only HβCD inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in the pulmonary Calu-3 cells. Compared to the other cyclodextrins, β-cyclodextrins were the most potent inhibitors, which interfered with viral fusion via cholesterol depletion. β-cyclodextrins also prevented infection in a human nasal epithelium model ex vivo and had a prophylactic effect in the nasal epithelium of hamsters in vivo. All accumulated data point to β-cyclodextrins as promising broad-spectrum antivirals against different SARS-CoV-2 variants and distant alphacoronaviruses. Given the wide use of β-cyclodextrins for drug encapsulation and their high safety profile in humans, our results support their clinical testing as prophylactic antivirals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dalia Raïch-Regué
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain
| | - Raquel Tenorio
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Fernández de Castro
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ferran Tarrés-Freixas
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martin Sachse
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Daniel Perez-Zsolt
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain
| | - Jordana Muñoz-Basagoiti
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain
| | - Sara Y Fernández-Sánchez
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Marçal Gallemí
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain
| | - Paula Ortega-González
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Alberto Fernández-Oliva
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - José A Gabaldón
- Reconocimiento y Encapsulación Molecular. Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), Campus de los Jerónimos, N° 135, Guadalupe, 30107 Murcia, Spain
| | - Estrella Nuñez-Delicado
- Reconocimiento y Encapsulación Molecular. Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), Campus de los Jerónimos, N° 135, Guadalupe, 30107 Murcia, Spain
| | - Josefina Casas
- Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya (IQAC-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Núria Roca
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Guillermo Cantero
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mónica Pérez
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carla Usai
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Lorca-Oró
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Júlia-Vergara Alert
- IRTA, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA, IRTA-UAB), Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain; Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joaquim Segalés
- Unitat Mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Spain
| | - Jorge Carrillo
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain
| | - Julià Blanco
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain; University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain; Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Bonaventura Clotet Sala
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain; University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain; Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - José P Cerón-Carrasco
- Centro Universitario de la Defensa, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, C/Coronel López Peña s/n, Base Aérea de San Javier, Santiago de la Ribera, 30720 Murcia, Spain.
| | - Nuria Izquierdo-Useros
- IrsiCaixa, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Can Ruti Campus, 08916, Badalona, Spain; Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Cristina Risco
- Cell Structure Lab, Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia, CNB - CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
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Hung TI, Hsieh YJ, Lu WL, Wu KP, Chang CEA. What Strengthens Protein-Protein Interactions: Analysis and Applications of Residue Correlation Networks. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.15.532709. [PMID: 36993448 PMCID: PMC10055079 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.15.532709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Identifying critical residues in protein-protein binding and efficiently designing stable and specific protein binders is challenging. In addition to direct contacts in a protein-protein binding interface, our study employs computation modeling to reveal the essential network of residue interaction and dihedral angle correlation critical in protein-protein recognition. We propose that mutating residues regions exhibited highly correlated motions within the interaction network can efficiently optimize protein-protein interactions to create tight and selective protein binders. We validated our strategy using ubiquitin (Ub) and MERS coronaviral papain-like protease (PLpro) complexes, where Ub is one central player in many cellular functions and PLpro is an antiviral drug target. Our designed UbV with 3 mutated residues resulted in a ~3,500-fold increase in functional inhibition, compared with the wild-type Ub. Further optimization by incorporating 2 more residues within the network, the 5-point mutant achieved a KD of 1.5 nM and IC50 of 9.7 nM. The modification led to a 27,500-fold and 5,500-fold enhancements in affinity and potency, respectively, as well as improved selectivity, without destabilizing the UbV structure. Our study highlights residue correlation and interaction networks in protein-protein interaction, introduces an effective approach to design high affinity protein binders for cell biology and future therapeutics solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ta I Hung
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Riverside, United States
| | - Yun-Jung Hsieh
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Lin Lu
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
| | - Kuen-Phon Wu
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
- Institute of Biochemical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
| | - Chia-en A. Chang
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, United States
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Xue Y, Mei H, Chen Y, Griffin JD, Liu Q, Weisberg E, Yang J. Repurposing clinically available drugs and therapies for pathogenic targets to combat SARS-CoV-2. MedComm (Beijing) 2023; 4:e254. [PMID: 37193304 PMCID: PMC10183156 DOI: 10.1002/mco2.254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected a large portion of the global population, both physically and mentally. Current evidence suggests that the rapidly evolving coronavirus subvariants risk rendering vaccines and antibodies ineffective due to their potential to evade existing immunity, with enhanced transmission activity and higher reinfection rates that could lead to new outbreaks across the globe. The goal of viral management is to disrupt the viral life cycle as well as to relieve severe symptoms such as lung damage, cytokine storm, and organ failure. In the fight against viruses, the combination of viral genome sequencing, elucidation of the structure of viral proteins, and identifying proteins that are highly conserved across multiple coronaviruses has revealed many potential molecular targets. In addition, the time- and cost-effective repurposing of preexisting antiviral drugs or approved/clinical drugs for these targets offers considerable clinical advantages for COVID-19 patients. This review provides a comprehensive overview of various identified pathogenic targets and pathways as well as corresponding repurposed approved/clinical drugs and their potential against COVID-19. These findings provide new insight into the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies that could be applied to the control of disease symptoms emanating from evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiying Xue
- Department of Hematology, Tongji Hospital, Frontier Science Center for Stem Cell Research, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Disease Research, School of Life Sciences and TechnologyTongji UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Husheng Mei
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical ScienceChinese Academy of SciencesHefeiChina
- University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhuiChina
| | - Yisa Chen
- Department of Hematology, Tongji Hospital, Frontier Science Center for Stem Cell Research, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Disease Research, School of Life Sciences and TechnologyTongji UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - James D. Griffin
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana‐Farber Cancer InstituteBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Qingsong Liu
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical ScienceChinese Academy of SciencesHefeiChina
- University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefeiAnhuiChina
- Hefei Cancer HospitalChinese Academy of SciencesHefeiChina
| | - Ellen Weisberg
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana‐Farber Cancer InstituteBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Hematology, Tongji Hospital, Frontier Science Center for Stem Cell Research, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Disease Research, School of Life Sciences and TechnologyTongji UniversityShanghaiChina
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical ScienceChinese Academy of SciencesHefeiChina
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Patel S, Hasan H, Umraliya D, Sanapalli BKR, Yele V. Marine drugs as putative inhibitors against non-structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2: an in silico study. J Mol Model 2023; 29:176. [PMID: 37171714 PMCID: PMC10176293 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-023-05574-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an unprecedented pandemic, threatening human health worldwide. The need to produce novel small-molecule inhibitors against the ongoing pandemic has resulted in the use of drugs such as chloroquine, azithromycin, dexamethasone, favipiravir, ribavirin, remdesivir and azithromycin. Moreover, the reports of the clinical trials of these drugs proved to produce detrimental effects on patients with side effects like nephrotoxicity, retinopathy, cardiotoxicity and cardiomyopathy. Recognizing the need for effective and non-harmful therapeutic candidates to combat COVID-19, we aimed to develop promising drugs against SARS-COV-2. DISCUSSION In the current investigation, high-throughput virtual screening was performed using the Comprehensive Marine Natural Products Database against five non-structural proteins: Nsp3, Nsp5, Nsp12, Nsp13 and Nsp15. Furthermore, standard precision (SP) docking, extra precision (XP) docking, binding free energy calculation and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity studies were performed using the Schrӧdinger suite. The top-ranked 5 hits obtained by computational studies exhibited to possess a greater binding affinity with the selected non-structural proteins. Amongst the five hits, CMNPD5804, CMNPD20924 and CMNPD1598 hits were utilized to design a novel molecule (D) that has the capability of interacting with all the key residues in the pocket of the selected non-structural proteins. Furthermore, 200 ns of molecular dynamics simulation studies provided insight into the binding modes of D within the catalytic pocket of selected proteins. CONCLUSION Hence, it is concluded that compound D could be a promising inhibitor against these non-structural proteins. Nevertheless, there is still a need to conduct in vitro and in vivo studies to support our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simran Patel
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, 360003, India
| | - Haydara Hasan
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, 360003, India
| | - Divyesh Umraliya
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, 360003, India
| | - Bharat Kumar Reddy Sanapalli
- Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, 360003, India.
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MB University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, 517102, India.
| | - Vidyasrilekha Yele
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, 360003, India.
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78
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Shao Q, Xiong M, Li J, Hu H, Su H, Xu Y. Unraveling the catalytic mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease with allosteric modulation of C270 mutation using multiscale computational approaches. Chem Sci 2023; 14:4681-4696. [PMID: 37181765 PMCID: PMC10171076 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc00166k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Papain-like protease (PLpro) is a promising therapeutic target against SARS-CoV-2, but its restricted S1/S2 subsites pose an obstacle in developing active site-directed inhibitors. We have recently identified C270 as a novel covalent allosteric site for SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors. Here we present a theoretical investigation of the proteolysis reaction catalyzed by the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 PLpro as well as the C270R mutant. Enhanced sampling MD simulations were first performed to explore the influence of C270R mutation on the protease dynamics, and sampled thermodynamically favorable conformations were then submitted to MM/PBSA and QM/MM MD simulations for thorough characterization of the protease-substrate binding and covalent reactions. The disclosed proteolysis mechanism of PLpro, as characterized by the occurrence of proton transfer from the catalytic C111 to H272 prior to the substrate binding and with deacylation being the rate-determining step of the whole proteolysis process, is not completely identical to that of the 3C-like protease, another key cysteine protease of coronaviruses. The C270R mutation alters the structural dynamics of the BL2 loop that indirectly impairs the catalytic function of H272 and reduces the binding of the substrate with the protease, ultimately showing an inhibitory effect on PLpro. Together, these results provide a comprehensive understanding at the atomic level of the key aspects of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro proteolysis, including the catalytic activity allosterically regulated by C270 modification, which is crucial to the follow-up inhibitor design and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 201203 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Muya Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 201203 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Jiameng Li
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Nanjing 210023 China
| | - Hangchen Hu
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Hangzhou 310024 China
| | - Haixia Su
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 201203 China
| | - Yechun Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai 201203 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
- School of Chinese Materia Medica, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Nanjing 210023 China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Hangzhou 310024 China
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79
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Kattula B, Reddi B, Jangam A, Naik L, Adimoolam BM, Vavilapalli S, Are S, Thota JR, Jadav SS, Arifuddin M, Addlagatta A. Development of 2-chloroquinoline based heterocyclic frameworks as dual inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 M Pro and PL Pro. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 242:124772. [PMID: 37172706 PMCID: PMC10171901 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Evolution of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 warrant the need for the continued efforts in identifying target-oriented new drugs. Dual targeting agents against MPro and PLPro not only overcome the incomplete efficacy but also the drug resistance, which is common problem. Since both these are cysteine proteases, we designed 2-chloroquinoline based molecules with additional imine moiety in the middle as possible nucleophilic warheads. In the first round of design and synthesis, three molecules (C3, C4 and C5) inhibited (Ki < 2 μM) only MPro by binding covalently to C145 and one molecule (C10) inhibited both the proteases non-covalently (Ki < 2 μM) with negligible cytotoxicity. Further conversion of the imine in C10 to azetidinone (C11) improved the potency against both the enzymes in the nanomolar range (820 nM against MPro and 350 nM against PLPro) with no cytotoxicity. Conversion of imine to thiazolidinone (C12), reduced the inhibition by 3-5 folds against both the enzymes. Biochemical and computational studies suggest that C10-C12 bind in the substrate binding pocket of MPro and in the BL2 loop of the PLPro. Since these dual inhibitors have least cytotoxicity, they could be further explored as therapeutics against the SARS-CoV-2 and other analogous viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavita Kattula
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India
| | - Bharati Reddi
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India
| | - Aruna Jangam
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India
| | - Lekhika Naik
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Hyderabad 500 037, Telangana, India
| | - Bala Manikanta Adimoolam
- Analytical and Structural Chemistry Department, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India
| | - Suresh Vavilapalli
- Organic Synthesis and Process Chemistry, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India
| | - Sayanna Are
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India
| | - Jagadeshwar Reddy Thota
- Analytical and Structural Chemistry Department, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Organic Synthesis and Process Chemistry, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India
| | - Surender Singh Jadav
- Department of Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India.
| | - Mohammed Arifuddin
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Hyderabad 500 037, Telangana, India.
| | - Anthony Addlagatta
- Division of Applied Biology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad 500007, Telangana, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001, India.
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80
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Ogun OJ, Thaller G, Becker D. Molecular Structural Analysis of Porcine CMAH-Native Ligand Complex and High Throughput Virtual Screening to Identify Novel Inhibitors. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12050684. [PMID: 37242354 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12050684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Porcine meat is the most consumed red meat worldwide. Pigs are also vital tools in biological and medical research. However, xenoreactivity between porcine's N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) and human anti-Neu5Gc antibodies poses a significant challenge. On the one hand, dietary Neu5Gc intake has been connected to particular human disorders. On the other hand, some pathogens connected to pig diseases have a preference for Neu5Gc. The Cytidine monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH) catalyses the conversion of N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) to Neu5Gc. In this study, we predicted the tertiary structure of CMAH, performed molecular docking, and analysed the protein-native ligand complex. We performed a virtual screening from a drug library of 5M compounds and selected the two top inhibitors with Vina scores of -9.9 kcal/mol for inhibitor 1 and -9.4 kcal/mol for inhibitor 2. We further analysed their pharmacokinetic and pharmacophoric properties. We conducted stability analyses of the complexes with molecular dynamic simulations of 200 ns and binding free energy calculations. The overall analyses revealed the inhibitors' stable binding, which was further validated by the MMGBSA studies. In conclusion, this result may pave the way for future studies to determine how to inhibit CMAH activities. Further in vitro studies can provide in-depth insight into these compounds' therapeutic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oluwamayowa Joshua Ogun
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, University of Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, 24098 Kiel, Germany
| | - Georg Thaller
- Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, University of Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, 24098 Kiel, Germany
| | - Doreen Becker
- Institute of Genome Biology, Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany
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81
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Cao D, Duan L, Huang B, Xiong Y, Zhang G, Huang H. The SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease suppresses type I interferon responses by deubiquitinating STING. Sci Signal 2023; 16:eadd0082. [PMID: 37130168 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.add0082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro), which has deubiquitinating activity, suppresses the type I interferon (IFN-I) antiviral response. We investigated the mechanism by which PLpro antagonizes cellular antiviral responses. In HEK392T cells, PLpro removed K63-linked polyubiquitin chains from Lys289 of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING). PLpro-mediated deubiquitination of STING disrupted the STING-IKKε-IRF3 complex that induces the production of IFN-β and IFN-stimulated cytokines and chemokines. In human airway cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, the combined treatment with the STING agonist diABZi and the PLpro inhibitor GRL0617 resulted in the synergistic inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication and increased IFN-I responses. The PLpros of seven human coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-NL63) and four SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (α, β, γ, and δ) all bound to STING and suppressed STING-stimulated IFN-I responses in HEK293T cells. These findings reveal how SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibits IFN-I signaling through STING deubiquitination and a general mechanism used by seven human coronaviral PLpros to dysregulate STING and to facilitate viral innate immune evasion. We also identified simultaneous pharmacological STING activation and PLpro inhibition as a potentially effective strategy for antiviral therapy against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, PR China
| | - Lian Duan
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518112, PR China
| | - Bin Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, PR China
| | - Yuxian Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, PR China
| | - Guoliang Zhang
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518112, PR China
| | - Hao Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, PR China
- Institute of Chemical Biology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518132, China
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82
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Wydorski PM, Osipiuk J, Lanham BT, Tesar C, Endres M, Engle E, Jedrzejczak R, Mullapudi V, Michalska K, Fidelis K, Fushman D, Joachimiak A, Joachimiak LA. Dual domain recognition determines SARS-CoV-2 PLpro selectivity for human ISG15 and K48-linked di-ubiquitin. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2366. [PMID: 37185902 PMCID: PMC10126577 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38031-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The Papain-like protease (PLpro) is a domain of a multi-functional, non-structural protein 3 of coronaviruses. PLpro cleaves viral polyproteins and posttranslational conjugates with poly-ubiquitin and protective ISG15, composed of two ubiquitin-like (UBL) domains. Across coronaviruses, PLpro showed divergent selectivity for recognition and cleavage of posttranslational conjugates despite sequence conservation. We show that SARS-CoV-2 PLpro binds human ISG15 and K48-linked di-ubiquitin (K48-Ub2) with nanomolar affinity and detect alternate weaker-binding modes. Crystal structures of untethered PLpro complexes with ISG15 and K48-Ub2 combined with solution NMR and cross-linking mass spectrometry revealed how the two domains of ISG15 or K48-Ub2 are differently utilized in interactions with PLpro. Analysis of protein interface energetics predicted differential binding stabilities of the two UBL/Ub domains that were validated experimentally. We emphasize how substrate recognition can be tuned to cleave specifically ISG15 or K48-Ub2 modifications while retaining capacity to cleave mono-Ub conjugates. These results highlight alternative druggable surfaces that would inhibit PLpro function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawel M Wydorski
- Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA
| | - Jerzy Osipiuk
- Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60667, USA
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Benjamin T Lanham
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Christine Tesar
- Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60667, USA
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Michael Endres
- Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60667, USA
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Elizabeth Engle
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Robert Jedrzejczak
- Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60667, USA
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Vishruth Mullapudi
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA
| | - Karolina Michalska
- Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60667, USA
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA
| | - Krzysztof Fidelis
- Protein Structure Prediction Center, Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facilities, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - David Fushman
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
| | - Andrzej Joachimiak
- Center for Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60667, USA.
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, 60439, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60367, USA.
| | - Lukasz A Joachimiak
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA.
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83
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Hersi F, Sebastian A, Tarazi H, Srinivasulu V, Mostafa A, Allayeh AK, Zeng C, Hachim IY, Liu SL, Abu-Yousef IA, Majdalawieh AF, Zaher DM, Omar HA, Al-Tel TH. Discovery of novel papain-like protease inhibitors for potential treatment of COVID-19. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 254:115380. [PMID: 37075625 PMCID: PMC10106510 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/21/2023]
Abstract
The recent emergence of different SARS-CoV-2 variants creates an urgent need to develop more effective therapeutic agents to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks. Among SARS-CoV-2 essential proteases is papain-like protease (SARS-CoV-2 PLpro), which plays multiple roles in regulating SARS-CoV-2 viral spread and innate immunity such as deubiquitinating and deISG15ylating (interferon-induced gene 15) activities. Many studies are currently focused on targeting this protease to tackle SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this context, we performed a phenotypic screening using an in-house pilot compounds collection possessing a diverse skeleta against SARS-CoV-2 PLpro. This screen identified SIMR3030 as a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2. SIMR3030 has been shown to exhibit deubiquitinating activity and inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 specific gene expression (ORF1b and Spike) in infected host cells and possessing virucidal activity. Moreover, SIMR3030 was demonstrated to inhibit the expression of inflammatory markers, including IFN-α, IL-6, and OAS1, which are reported to mediate the development of cytokine storms and aggressive immune responses. In vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) assessment of the drug-likeness properties of SIMR3030 demonstrated good microsomal stability in liver microsomes. Furthermore, SIMR3030 demonstrated very low potency as an inhibitor of CYP450, CYP3A4, CYP2D6 and CYP2C9 which rules out any potential drug-drug interactions. In addition, SIMR3030 showed moderate permeability in Caco2-cells. Critically, SIMR3030 has maintained a high in vivo safety profile at different concentrations. Molecular modeling studies of SIMR3030 in the active sites of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV PLpro were performed to shed light on the binding modes of this inhibitor. This study demonstrates that SIMR3030 is a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro that forms the foundation for developing new drugs to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and may pave the way for the development of novel therapeutics for a possible future outbreak of new SARS-CoV-2 variants or other Coronavirus species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatema Hersi
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates; College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Anusha Sebastian
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Hamadeh Tarazi
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Vunnam Srinivasulu
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Ahmed Mostafa
- Center of Scientific Excellence for Influenza Viruses, Environment and Climate Change Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, 12622, Egypt
| | - Abdou Kamal Allayeh
- Virology Lab 176, Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, 12622, Egypt
| | - Cong Zeng
- Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA; Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Ibrahim Y Hachim
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates; College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Shan-Lu Liu
- Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA; Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Imad A Abu-Yousef
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Amin F Majdalawieh
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Dana M Zaher
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates; College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates
| | - Hany A Omar
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates; College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates; Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 62514, Egypt.
| | - Taleb H Al-Tel
- Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates; College of Pharmacy, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, 27272, United Arab Emirates.
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84
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Ribaudo G, Yun X, Ongaro A, Oselladore E, Ng JPL, Haynes RK, Law BYK, Memo M, Wong VKW, Coghi P, Gianoncelli A. Combining computational and experimental evidence on the activity of antimalarial drugs on papain-like protease of SARS-CoV-2: A repurposing study. Chem Biol Drug Des 2023; 101:809-818. [PMID: 36453012 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.14187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Revised: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
The development of inhibitors that target the papain-like protease (PLpro) has the potential to counteract the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Based on a consideration of its several downstream effects, interfering with PLpro would both revert immune suppression exerted by the virus and inhibit viral replication. By following a repurposing strategy, the current study evaluates the potential of antimalarial drugs as PLpro inhibitors, and thereby the possibility of their use for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Computational tools were employed for structural analysis, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations to screen antimalarial drugs against PLpro, and in silico data were validated by in vitro experiments. Virtual screening highlighted amodiaquine and methylene blue as the best candidates, and these findings were complemented by the in vitro results that indicated amodiaquine as a μM PLpro deubiquitinase inhibitor. The results of this study demonstrate that the computational workflow adopted here can correctly identify active compounds. Thus, the highlighted antimalarial drugs represent a starting point for the development of new PLpro inhibitors through structural optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Ribaudo
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Xiaoyun Yun
- Dr. Neher's Biophysics Laboratory for Innovative Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
| | - Alberto Ongaro
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Erika Oselladore
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Jerome P L Ng
- Dr. Neher's Biophysics Laboratory for Innovative Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
| | - Richard K Haynes
- Center of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Betty Yuen Kwan Law
- Dr. Neher's Biophysics Laboratory for Innovative Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
| | - Maurizio Memo
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Vincent Kam Wai Wong
- Dr. Neher's Biophysics Laboratory for Innovative Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
| | - Paolo Coghi
- School of Pharmacy, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
| | - Alessandra Gianoncelli
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
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85
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Rogers DM, Agarwal R, Vermaas JV, Smith MD, Rajeshwar RT, Cooper C, Sedova A, Boehm S, Baker M, Glaser J, Smith JC. SARS-CoV2 billion-compound docking. Sci Data 2023; 10:173. [PMID: 36977690 PMCID: PMC10044124 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-01984-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
This dataset contains ligand conformations and docking scores for 1.4 billion molecules docked against 6 structural targets from SARS-CoV2, representing 5 unique proteins: MPro, NSP15, PLPro, RDRP, and the Spike protein. Docking was carried out using the AutoDock-GPU platform on the Summit supercomputer and Google Cloud. The docking procedure employed the Solis Wets search method to generate 20 independent ligand binding poses per compound. Each compound geometry was scored using the AutoDock free energy estimate, and rescored using RFScore v3 and DUD-E machine-learned rescoring models. Input protein structures are included, suitable for use by AutoDock-GPU and other docking programs. As the result of an exceptionally large docking campaign, this dataset represents a valuable resource for discovering trends across small molecule and protein binding sites, training AI models, and comparing to inhibitor compounds targeting SARS-CoV-2. The work also gives an example of how to organize and process data from ultra-large docking screens.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Rogers
- Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
| | - Rupesh Agarwal
- UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Josh V Vermaas
- Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Micholas Dean Smith
- UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Rajitha T Rajeshwar
- UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA
| | - Connor Cooper
- UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
- Biological Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Ada Sedova
- Biological Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Swen Boehm
- Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Matthew Baker
- Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Jens Glaser
- Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Jeremy C Smith
- UT/ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
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86
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Sanders BC, Pokhrel S, Labbe AD, Mathews II, Cooper CJ, Davidson RB, Phillips G, Weiss KL, Zhang Q, O'Neill H, Kaur M, Schmidt JG, Reichard W, Surendranathan S, Parvathareddy J, Phillips L, Rainville C, Sterner DE, Kumaran D, Andi B, Babnigg G, Moriarty NW, Adams PD, Joachimiak A, Hurst BL, Kumar S, Butt TR, Jonsson CB, Ferrins L, Wakatsuki S, Galanie S, Head MS, Parks JM. Potent and selective covalent inhibition of the papain-like protease from SARS-CoV-2. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1733. [PMID: 36977673 PMCID: PMC10044120 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37254-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Direct-acting antivirals are needed to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The papain-like protease (PLpro) domain of Nsp3 from SARS-CoV-2 is essential for viral replication. In addition, PLpro dysregulates the host immune response by cleaving ubiquitin and interferon-stimulated gene 15 protein from host proteins. As a result, PLpro is a promising target for inhibition by small-molecule therapeutics. Here we design a series of covalent inhibitors by introducing a peptidomimetic linker and reactive electrophile onto analogs of the noncovalent PLpro inhibitor GRL0617. The most potent compound inhibits PLpro with kinact/KI = 9,600 M-1 s-1, achieves sub-μM EC50 values against three SARS-CoV-2 variants in mammalian cell lines, and does not inhibit a panel of human deubiquitinases (DUBs) at >30 μM concentrations of inhibitor. An X-ray co-crystal structure of the compound bound to PLpro validates our design strategy and establishes the molecular basis for covalent inhibition and selectivity against structurally similar human DUBs. These findings present an opportunity for further development of covalent PLpro inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian C Sanders
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
| | - Suman Pokhrel
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Biological Sciences Division, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Audrey D Labbe
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | | | - Connor J Cooper
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | | | - Gwyndalyn Phillips
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Kevin L Weiss
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Qiu Zhang
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Hugh O'Neill
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Manat Kaur
- Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jurgen G Schmidt
- B-11 Bioenergy and Biome Sciences, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Walter Reichard
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Surekha Surendranathan
- Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Jyothi Parvathareddy
- Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Lexi Phillips
- Institute for Antiviral Research, Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | | | | | - Desigan Kumaran
- Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
| | - Babak Andi
- Center for BioMolecular Structure, National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
| | - Gyorgy Babnigg
- Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Biosciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - Nigel W Moriarty
- Molecular Biosciences and Integrated Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Paul D Adams
- Molecular Biosciences and Integrated Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Andrzej Joachimiak
- Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Structural Biology Center, X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Brett L Hurst
- Institute for Antiviral Research, Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | | | | | - Colleen B Jonsson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Lori Ferrins
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Soichi Wakatsuki
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
- Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Stephanie Galanie
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
- Department of Process Research and Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA
| | - Martha S Head
- Joint Institute for Biological Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
- Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
- Computational and Data Sciences, Center for Research Acceleration by Digital Innovation, Amgen, Inc., Thosand Oaks, CA, USA
| | - Jerry M Parks
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
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87
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Gul I, Hassan A, Haq E, Ahmad SM, Shah RA, Ganai NA, Chikan NA, Abdul-Careem MF, Shabir N. An Investigation of the Antiviral Potential of Phytocompounds against Avian Infectious Bronchitis Virus through Template-Based Molecular Docking and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Analysis. Viruses 2023; 15:v15040847. [PMID: 37112828 PMCID: PMC10144825 DOI: 10.3390/v15040847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccination is widely used to control Infectious Bronchitis in poultry; however, the limited cross-protection and safety issues associated with these vaccines can lead to vaccination failures. Keeping these limitations in mind, the current study explored the antiviral potential of phytocompounds against the Infectious Bronchitis virus using in silico approaches. A total of 1300 phytocompounds derived from fourteen botanicals were screened for their potential ability to inhibit the main protease, papain-like protease or RNA-dependent RNA–polymerase of the virus. The study identified Methyl Rosmarinate, Cianidanol, Royleanone, and 6,7-Dehydroroyleanone as dual-target inhibitors against any two of the key proteins. At the same time, 7-alpha-Acetoxyroyleanone from Rosmarinus officinalis was found to be a multi-target protein inhibitor against all three proteins. The potential multi-target inhibitor was subjected to molecular dynamics simulations to assess the stability of the protein–ligand complexes along with the corresponding reference ligands. The findings specified stable interactions of 7-alpha-Acetoxyroyleanone with the protein targets. The results based on the in silico study indicate that the phytocompounds can potentially inhibit the essential proteins of the Infectious Bronchitis virus; however, in vitro and in vivo studies are required for validation. Nevertheless, this study is a significant step in exploring the use of botanicals in feed to control Infectious Bronchitis infections in poultry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irfan Gul
- Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India; (I.G.)
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India
| | - Amreena Hassan
- Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India; (I.G.)
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India
| | - Ehtishamul Haq
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India
| | - Syed Mudasir Ahmad
- Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India; (I.G.)
| | - Riaz Ahmad Shah
- Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India; (I.G.)
| | - Nazir Ahmad Ganai
- Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India; (I.G.)
| | - Naveed Anjum Chikan
- Division of Computational Biology, Daskdan Innovations, Pvt. Ltd., Kashmir 190006, India
| | - Mohamed Faizal Abdul-Careem
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
- Correspondence: (M.F.A.-C.); (N.S.)
| | - Nadeem Shabir
- Division of Animal Biotechnology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Shuhama, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006, India; (I.G.)
- Correspondence: (M.F.A.-C.); (N.S.)
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88
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Omage FB, Madabeni A, Tucci AR, Nogara PA, Bortoli M, Rosa ADS, Neuza Dos Santos Ferreira V, Teixeira Rocha JB, Miranda MD, Orian L. Diphenyl Diselenide and SARS-CoV-2: in silico Exploration of the Mechanisms of Inhibition of Main Protease (M pro) and Papain-like Protease (PL pro). J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:2226-2239. [PMID: 36952618 PMCID: PMC10091420 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has prompted global efforts to develop therapeutics. The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (Mpro) and the papain-like protease (PLpro) are essential for viral replication and are key targets for therapeutic development. In this work, we investigate the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 inhibition by diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)2 which is an archetypal model of diselenides and a renowned potential therapeutic agent. The in vitro inhibitory concentration of (PhSe)2 against SARS-CoV-2 in Vero E6 cells falls in the low micromolar range. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations [level of theory: SMD-B3LYP-D3(BJ)/6-311G(d,p), cc-pVTZ] are used to inspect non-covalent inhibition modes of both proteases via π-stacking and the mechanism of covalent (PhSe)2 + Mpro product formation involving the catalytic residue C145, respectively. The in vitro CC50 (24.61 μM) and EC50 (2.39 μM) data indicate that (PhSe)2 is a good inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 virus replication in a cell culture model. The in silico findings indicate potential mechanisms of proteases' inhibition by (PhSe)2; in particular, the results of the covalent inhibition here discussed for Mpro, whose thermodynamics is approximatively isoergonic, prompt further investigation in the design of antiviral organodiselenides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Folorunsho Bright Omage
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Andrea Madabeni
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università Degli Studi di Padova, Via Marzolo 1, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Amanda Resende Tucci
- Laboratório de Vírus Respiratórios e Do Sarampo, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Morfogênese Viral, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
| | - Pablo Andrei Nogara
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Marco Bortoli
- Institute of Computational Chemistry and Catalysis (IQCC) and Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Girona, C/M. A. Capmany 69, Girona 17003, Spain
| | - Alice Dos Santos Rosa
- Laboratório de Vírus Respiratórios e Do Sarampo, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Morfogênese Viral, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
| | - Vivian Neuza Dos Santos Ferreira
- Laboratório de Vírus Respiratórios e Do Sarampo, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Morfogênese Viral, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
| | - João Batista Teixeira Rocha
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul 97105-900, Brazil
| | - Milene Dias Miranda
- Laboratório de Vírus Respiratórios e Do Sarampo, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
- Laboratório de Morfologia e Morfogênese Viral, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21041-210, Brazil
| | - Laura Orian
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università Degli Studi di Padova, Via Marzolo 1, Padova 35131, Italy
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89
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Musa A, Abulkhair HS, Aljuhani A, Rezki N, Abdelgawad MA, Shalaby K, El-Ghorab AH, Aouad MR. Phenylpyrazolone-1,2,3-triazole Hybrids as Potent Antiviral Agents with Promising SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibition Potential. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 16:ph16030463. [PMID: 36986562 PMCID: PMC10051656 DOI: 10.3390/ph16030463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 infection is now considered one of the leading causes of human death. As an attempt towards the discovery of novel medications for the COVID-19 pandemic, nineteen novel compounds containing 1,2,3-triazole side chains linked to phenylpyrazolone scaffold and terminal lipophilic aryl parts with prominent substituent functionalities were designed and synthesized via a click reaction based on our previous work. The novel compounds were assessed using an in vitro effect on the growth of SARS-CoV-2 virus-infested Vero cells with different compound concentrations: 1 and 10 μM. The data revealed that most of these derivatives showed potent cellular anti-COVID-19 activity and inhibited viral replication by more than 50% with no or weak cytotoxic effect on harboring cells. In addition, in vitro assay employing the SARS-CoV-2-Main protease inhibition assay was done to test the inhibitors' ability to block the common primary protease of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a mode of action. The obtained results show that the one non-linker analog 6h and two amide-based linkers 6i and 6q were the most active compounds with IC50 values of 5.08, 3.16, and 7.55 μM, respectively, against the viral protease in comparison to data of the selective antiviral agent GC-376. Molecular modeling studies were done for compound placement within the binding pocket of protease which reveal conserved residues hydrogen bonding and non-hydrogen interactions of 6i analog fragments: triazole scaffold, aryl part, and linker. Moreover, the stability of compounds and their interactions with the target pocket were also studied and analyzed by molecular dynamic simulations. The physicochemical and toxicity profiles were predicted, and the results show that compounds behave as an antiviral activity with low or no cellular or organ toxicity. All research results point to the potential usage of new chemotype potent derivatives as promising leads to be explored in vivo that might open the door to rational drug development of SARS-CoV-2 Main protease potent medicines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arafa Musa
- Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hamada S Abulkhair
- Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo 11884, Egypt
- Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Horus University-Egypt, International Coastal Road, New Damietta 34518, Egypt
| | - Ateyatallah Aljuhani
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 41477, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nadjet Rezki
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 41477, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed A Abdelgawad
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khaled Shalaby
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmed H El-Ghorab
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed R Aouad
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 41477, Saudi Arabia
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90
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Noske GD, Song Y, Fernandes RS, Chalk R, Elmassoudi H, Koekemoer L, Owen CD, El-Baba TJ, Robinson CV, Oliva G, Godoy AS. An in-solution snapshot of SARS-COV-2 main protease maturation process and inhibition. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1545. [PMID: 36941262 PMCID: PMC10027274 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37035-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The main protease from SARS-CoV-2 (Mpro) is responsible for cleavage of the viral polyprotein. Mpro self-processing is called maturation, and it is crucial for enzyme dimerization and activity. Here we use C145S Mpro to study the structure and dynamics of N-terminal cleavage in solution. Native mass spectroscopy analysis shows that mixed oligomeric states are composed of cleaved and uncleaved particles, indicating that N-terminal processing is not critical for dimerization. A 3.5 Å cryo-EM structure provides details of Mpro N-terminal cleavage outside the constrains of crystal environment. We show that different classes of inhibitors shift the balance between oligomeric states. While non-covalent inhibitor MAT-POS-e194df51-1 prevents dimerization, the covalent inhibitor nirmatrelvir induces the conversion of monomers into dimers, even with intact N-termini. Our data indicates that the Mpro dimerization is triggered by induced fit due to covalent linkage during substrate processing rather than the N-terminal processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Dias Noske
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Joao Dagnone, 1100 - Jardim Santa Angelina, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Yun Song
- Electron Bio-imaging Centre, Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK
| | - Rafaela Sachetto Fernandes
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Joao Dagnone, 1100 - Jardim Santa Angelina, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Rod Chalk
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford University, OX1 3QU, Oxford, UK
| | - Haitem Elmassoudi
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford University, OX1 3QU, Oxford, UK
| | - Lizbé Koekemoer
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford University, OX1 3QU, Oxford, UK
| | - C David Owen
- Electron Bio-imaging Centre, Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK
| | - Tarick J El-Baba
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3TA, Oxford, UK
- The Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, South Parks Road, OX1 3QU, Oxford, UK
| | - Carol V Robinson
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3TA, Oxford, UK
- The Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, South Parks Road, OX1 3QU, Oxford, UK
| | - Glaucius Oliva
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Joao Dagnone, 1100 - Jardim Santa Angelina, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Andre Schutzer Godoy
- Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Joao Dagnone, 1100 - Jardim Santa Angelina, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil.
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91
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Garland O, Ton AT, Moradi S, Smith JR, Kovacic S, Ng K, Pandey M, Ban F, Lee J, Vuckovic M, Worrall LJ, Young RN, Pantophlet R, Strynadka NCJ, Cherkasov A. Large-Scale Virtual Screening for the Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 Papain-like Protease (PLpro) Non-covalent Inhibitors. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:2158-2169. [PMID: 36930801 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
The rapid global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus facilitated the development of novel direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). The papain-like protease (PLpro) has been proposed as one of the major SARS-CoV-2 targets for DAAs due to its dual role in processing viral proteins and facilitating the host's immune suppression. This dual role makes identifying small molecules that can effectively neutralize SARS-CoV-2 PLpro activity a high-priority task. However, PLpro drug discovery faces a significant challenge due to the high mobility and induced-fit effects in the protease's active site. Herein, we virtually screened the ZINC20 database with Deep Docking (DD) to identify prospective noncovalent PLpro binders and combined ultra-large consensus docking with two pharmacophore (ph4)-filtering strategies. The analysis of active compounds revealed their somewhat-limited diversity, likely attributed to the induced-fit nature of PLpro's active site in the crystal structures, and therefore, the use of rigid docking protocols poses inherited limitations. The top hits were assessed against recombinant viral proteins and live viruses, demonstrating desirable inhibitory activities. The best compound VPC-300195 (IC50: 15 μM) ranks among the top noncovalent PLpro inhibitors discovered through in silico methodologies. In the search for novel SARS-CoV-2 PLpro-specific chemotypes, the identified inhibitors could serve as diverse templates for the development of effective noncovalent PLpro inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Garland
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Anh-Tien Ton
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Shoeib Moradi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Jason R Smith
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada.,Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Suzana Kovacic
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Kurtis Ng
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Mohit Pandey
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Fuqiang Ban
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Jaeyong Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Marija Vuckovic
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Liam J Worrall
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Robert N Young
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Ralph Pantophlet
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada.,Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Natalie C J Strynadka
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Artem Cherkasov
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3Z6, Canada
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92
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Maulana S, Wahyuni TS, Widiyanti P, Zubair MS. <em>In silico</em> screening of potential compounds from begonia genus as 3CL protease (3Cl pro) SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. J Public Health Afr 2023. [PMID: 37492544 PMCID: PMC10365649 DOI: 10.4081/jphia.2023.2508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: The emergence of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared a pandemic and made a medical emergency worldwide. Various attempts have been made, including optimizing effective treatments against the disease or developing a vaccine. Since the SARS-CoV-2 protease crystal structure has been discovered, searching for its inhibitors by in silico technique becomes possible.
Objective: This study aims to virtually screen the potential of phytoconstituents from the Begonia genus as 3Cl pro-SARS-CoV- 2 inhibitors, based on its crucial role in viral replication, hence making these proteases “promising” for the anti-SARS-CoV-2 target.
Methods: In silico screening was carried out by molecular docking on the web-based program DockThor and validated by a retrospective method. Predictive binding affinity (Dock Score) was used for scoring the compounds. Further molecular dynamics on Desmond was performed to assess the complex stability.
Results: Virtual screening protocol was valid with the area under curve value 0.913. Molecular docking revealed only β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside with a lower docking score of - 9.712 kcal/mol than positive control of indinavir. The molecular dynamic study showed that the compound was stable for the first 30 ns simulations time with Root Mean Square Deviation <3 Å, despite minor fluctuations observed at the end of simulation times. Root Mean Square Fluctuation of catalytic sites HIS41 and CYS145 was 0.756 Å and 0.773 Å, respectively.
Conclusions: This result suggests that β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D- glucopyranoside might be a prospective metabolite compound that can be developed as anti-SARS-CoV-2.
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93
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Ershov PV, Yablokov EO, Mezentsev YV, Chuev GN, Fedotova MV, Kruchinin SE, Ivanov AS. SARS-COV-2 Coronavirus Papain-like Protease PLpro as an Antiviral Target for Inhibitors of Active Site and Protein-Protein Interactions. Biophysics (Nagoya-shi) 2023; 67:902-912. [PMID: 36883182 PMCID: PMC9984130 DOI: 10.1134/s0006350922060082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The papain-like protease PLpro of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is a multifunctional enzyme that catalyzes the proteolytic processing of two viral polyproteins, pp1a and pp1ab. PLpro also cleaves peptide bonds between host cell proteins and ubiquitin (or ubiquitin-like proteins), which is associated with a violation of immune processes. Nine structures of the most effective inhibitors of the PLpro active center were prioritized according to the parameters of biochemical (IC 50) and cellular tests to assess the suppression of viral replication (EC 50) and cytotoxicity (CC 50). A literature search has shown that PLpro can interact with at least 60 potential protein partners in cells, 23 of which are targets for other viral proteins (human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus). The analysis of protein-protein interactions showed that the proteins USP3, UBE2J1, RCHY1, and FAF2 involved in deubiquitinylation and ubiquitinylation processes contain the largest number of bonds with other proteins; the interaction of viral proteins with them can affect the architecture of the entire network of protein-protein interactions. Using the example of a spatial model of the PLpro/ubiquitin complex and a set of 154 naturally occurring compounds with known antiviral activity, 13 compounds (molecular masses in the range of 454-954 Da) were predicted as potential PLpro inhibitors. These compounds bind to the "hot" amino acid residues of the protease at the positions Gly163, Asp164, Arg166, Glu167, and Tyr264 involved in the interaction with ubiquitin. Thus, pharmacological effects on peripheral PLpro sites, which play important roles in binding protein substrates, may be an additional target-oriented antiviral strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. V. Ershov
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, 119121 Moscow, Russia
| | - E. O. Yablokov
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, 119121 Moscow, Russia
| | | | - G. N. Chuev
- Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow oblast Russia
| | - M. V. Fedotova
- Krestov Institute of Solution Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 153045 Ivanovo, Russia
| | - S. E. Kruchinin
- Krestov Institute of Solution Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 153045 Ivanovo, Russia
| | - A. S. Ivanov
- Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, 119121 Moscow, Russia
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94
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Ayipo YO, Ahmad I, Najib YS, Sheu SK, Patel H, Mordi MN. Molecular modelling and structure-activity relationship of a natural derivative of o-hydroxybenzoate as a potent inhibitor of dual NSP3 and NSP12 of SARS-CoV-2: in silico study. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:1959-1977. [PMID: 35037841 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2026818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The nsp3 macrodomain and nsp12 (RdRp) enzymes are strongly implicated in the virulent regulation of the host immune response and viral replication of SARS-CoV-2, making them plausible therapeutic targets for mitigating infectivity. Remdesivir remains the only FDA-approved small-molecule inhibitor of the nsp12 in clinical conditions while none has been approved yet for the nsp3 macrodomain. In this study, 69,067 natural compounds from the IBScreen database were screened for efficacious potentials with mechanistic multitarget-directed inhibitory pharmacology against the dual targets using in silico approaches. Standard and extra precision (SP and XP) Maestro glide docking analyses were employed to evaluate their inhibitory interactions against the enzymes. Four compounds, STOCK1N-45901, 03804, 83408, 08377 consistently showed high XP scores against the respective targets and interacted strongly with pharmacologically essential amino acid and RNA residues, in better terms than the standard, co-crystallized inhibitors, GS-441524 and remdesivir. Further assessments through the predictions of ADMET and mutagenicity distinguished STOCK1N-45901, a natural derivative of o-hydroxybenzoate as the most promising candidate. The ligand maintained a good conformational and thermodynamic stability in complex with the enzymes throughout the trajectories of 100 ns molecular dynamics, indicated by RMSD, RMSF and radius of gyration plots. Its binding free energy, MM-GBSA was recorded as -54.24 and -31.77 kcal/mol against the respective enzyme, while its structure-activity relationships confer high probabilities as active antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antiinfection, antitussive and peroxidase inhibitor. The IBScreen database natural product, STOCK1N-45901 (2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxyhexyl o-hydroxybenzoate) is thus recommended as a potent inhibitor of dual nsp3 and nsp12 of SARS-CoV-2 for further study. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusuf Oloruntoyin Ayipo
- Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
- Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Nigeria
| | - Iqrar Ahmad
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, R. C. Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Shirpur, Maharashtra, India
| | - Yahaya Sani Najib
- Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Sikirat Kehinde Sheu
- Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, Kwara State University, Malete, Ilorin, Nigeria
| | - Harun Patel
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, R. C. Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Shirpur, Maharashtra, India
| | - Mohd Nizam Mordi
- Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
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95
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Perdalkar S, Basthi Mohan P, Musunuri B, Rajpurohit S, Shetty S, Bhat K, Pai CG. Thiopurine therapy in inflammatory bowel disease in the pandemic era: Safe or unsafe? Int Immunopharmacol 2023; 116:109597. [PMID: 36702073 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Revised: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC) are the two major types affecting millions across the globe. Various immunomodulatory drugs consisting of small molecules (thiopurines, methotrexate and tofacitinib) and biologics are used to treat IBD. Thiopurines (TP) are widely used in the treatment of IBD and it plays an important role both alone and in combination with anti-TNF agents as IBD maintenance therapy. Although the advent of biologics therapy has significantly advanced the management of IBD, TP remains the mainstay of treatment in resource-limited and low economic settings. However, the recently commenced pandemic has raised uncertainty over the safety of the use of immunosuppressant drugs such as TP among healthcare care providers and patients, as there is a scarcity of data on whether IBD patients are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection or more prone to its severe outcomes. AIM This review aims to encapsulate evidence on the risk of COVID-19 infection and its severe prognosis in IBD patients on TP. Additionally, it also evaluates the role of TP in inhibiting the viral protease, a potential drug target, essential for the replication and pathogenesis of the virus. CONCLUSION Emerging evidence suggests that TP therapy is safe during the current pandemic and does not carry an elevated risk when used as monotherapy or in combination with other IBD drugs. In-vitro studies demonstrate that TP is a potential therapeutic for present and future betacoronavirus pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shailesh Perdalkar
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
| | - Pooja Basthi Mohan
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
| | - Balaji Musunuri
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
| | - Siddheesh Rajpurohit
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
| | - Shiran Shetty
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
| | - Krishnamurthy Bhat
- Department of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India
| | - Cannanore Ganesh Pai
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, India.
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96
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Lessons Learnt from COVID-19: Computational Strategies for Facing Present and Future Pandemics. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24054401. [PMID: 36901832 PMCID: PMC10003049 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24054401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Since its outbreak in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the death of more than 6.5 million people around the world. The high transmissibility of its causative agent, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, coupled with its potentially lethal outcome, provoked a profound global economic and social crisis. The urgency of finding suitable pharmacological tools to tame the pandemic shed light on the ever-increasing importance of computer simulations in rationalizing and speeding up the design of new drugs, further stressing the need for developing quick and reliable methods to identify novel active molecules and characterize their mechanism of action. In the present work, we aim at providing the reader with a general overview of the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing the hallmarks in its management, from the initial attempts at drug repurposing to the commercialization of Paxlovid, the first orally available COVID-19 drug. Furthermore, we analyze and discuss the role of computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) techniques, especially those that fall in the structure-based drug design (SBDD) category, in facing present and future pandemics, by showcasing several successful examples of drug discovery campaigns where commonly used methods such as docking and molecular dynamics have been employed in the rational design of effective therapeutic entities against COVID-19.
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97
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Mezhibovsky E, Hoang SH, Szeto S, Roopchand DE. In silico analysis of dietary polyphenols and their gut microbial metabolites suggest inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection, replication, and host inflammatory mediators. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:14339-14357. [PMID: 36803516 PMCID: PMC10439978 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2180669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
The outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from asymptomatic to severe COVID-19 and death resulting from an exaggerated immune response termed cytokine storm. Epidemiological data have associated consumption of a high-quality plant-based diet with decreased incidence and severity of COVID-19. Dietary polyphenols and their microbial metabolites (MMs) have anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activities. Autodock Vina and Yasara were used in molecular docking and dynamics studies to investigate potential interactions of 7 parent polyphenols (PPs) and 11 MMs with the α- and Omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (SGP), papain-like pro-tease (PLpro) and 3 chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), as well as host inflammatory mediators including complement component 5a (C5a), C5a receptor (C5aR), and C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5). PPs and MMs interacted to varying degrees with residues on target viral and host inflammatory proteins showing potential as competitive inhibitors. Based on these in silico findings, PPs and MMs may inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection, replication, and/or modulate host immunity in the gut or periphery. Such inhibition may explain why people that consume a high-quality plant-based diet have less incidence and severity of COVID-19.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Mezhibovsky
- Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (Rutgers Center for Lipid Research and Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health), 61 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA
- Department of Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program, Rutgers University
| | - Skyler H. Hoang
- Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (Rutgers Center for Lipid Research and Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health), 61 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA
| | - Samantha Szeto
- Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (Rutgers Center for Lipid Research and Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health), 61 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA
| | - Diana E. Roopchand
- Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (Rutgers Center for Lipid Research and Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health), 61 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA
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98
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Cheohen CFDAR, Esteves MEA, da Fonseca TS, Leal CM, Assis FDLF, Campos MF, Rebelo RS, Allonso D, Leitão GG, da Silva ML, Leitão SG. In silico screening of phenylethanoid glycosides, a class of pharmacologically active compounds as natural inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 proteases. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:1461-1472. [PMID: 36817956 PMCID: PMC9920770 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.02.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Since the advent of Covid-19, several natural products have been investigated regarding their in silico interactions with SARS-CoV-2 proteases - 3CLpro and PLpro, two of the most important pharmacological targets for antiviral development. Phenylethanoid glycosides (PG) are a class of natural products present in important medicinal plants and a drug containing this group of active ingredients has been successfully used in the treatment of Covid-19 in China. Thus, a dataset with 567 derivatives of this class was built from reviews published between 1994 and 2020, and their interaction against both SARS-CoV-2 proteases was investigated. The virtual screening was performed by filtering the PGs through the evaluation of scores based on the AutoDock Vina, GOLD/ChemPLP, and GOLD/GoldScore evaluation functions. The bRO5 pharmacokinetic parameters of the PGs ranked in the previous step were analyzed and their interaction with key amino acid residues of the 3CLpro and PLpro enzymes was evaluated. Ninety-eight compounds were identified by computational approaches against PLpro and 80 PGs against 3CLpro. Of these, four interacted with key catalytic residues of PLpro, which is an indicative of inhibitory activity, and three compounds interacted with catalytic key residues of 3CLpro. Of these, five PGs occur in plants of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), while two are components of plants/formulations currently used in the Covid-19 protocols in China. The data presented here show the potential of PGs as selective inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro and PLpro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caio Felipe de Araujo Ribas Cheohen
- Programa de Pós-graduação Multicêntrico em Ciências Fisiológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macaé, RJ 27965045, Brazil
| | - Maria Eduarda Alves Esteves
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Computacional e Sistemas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21041361, Brazil
| | - Thamirys Silva da Fonseca
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil,Programa de Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia Vegetal e Bioprocessos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Carla Monteiro Leal
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia Vegetal e Bioprocessos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Fernanda de Lemos Fernandes Assis
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Mariana Freire Campos
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil,Programa de Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia Vegetal e Bioprocessos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Raianne Soares Rebelo
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Diego Allonso
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Gilda Guimarães Leitão
- Instituto de Pesquisas de Produtos Naturais, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. H, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil
| | - Manuela Leal da Silva
- Programa de Pós-graduação Multicêntrico em Ciências Fisiológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macaé, RJ 27965045, Brazil,Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Computacional e Sistemas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21041361, Brazil,Corresponding author at: Programa de Pós-graduação Multicêntrico em Ciências Fisiológicas, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade NUPEM, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macaé, RJ 27965045, Brazil.
| | - Suzana Guimarães Leitão
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil,Programa de Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia Vegetal e Bioprocessos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil,Corresponding author at: Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bl. A 2º andar, Ilha do Fundão, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941902, Brazil.
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99
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SARS-CoV-2 proteases Mpro and PLpro: Design of inhibitors with predicted high potency and low mammalian toxicity using artificial neural networks, ligand-protein docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and ADMET calculations. Comput Biol Med 2023; 153:106449. [PMID: 36586228 PMCID: PMC9788855 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2022.106449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The main (Mpro) and papain-like (PLpro) proteases are highly conserved viral proteins essential for replication of the COVID-19 virus, SARS-COV-2. Therefore, a logical plan for producing new drugs against this pathogen is to discover inhibitors of these enzymes. Accordingly, the goal of the present work was to devise a computational approach to design, characterize, and select compounds predicted to be potent dual inhibitors - effective against both Mpro and PLpro. The first step employed LigDream, an artificial neural network, to create a virtual ligand library. Ligands with computed ADMET profiles indicating drug-like properties and low mammalian toxicity were selected for further study. Initial docking of these ligands into the active sites of Mpro and PLpro was done with GOLD, and the highest-scoring ligands were redocked with AutoDock Vina to determine binding free energies (ΔG). Compounds 89-00, 89-07, 89-32, and 89-38 exhibited favorable ΔG values for Mpro (-7.6 to -8.7 kcal/mol) and PLpro (-9.1 to -9.7 kcal/mol). Global docking of selected compounds with the Mpro dimer identified prospective allosteric inhibitors 89-00, 89-27, and 89-40 (ΔG -8.2 to -8.9 kcal/mol). Molecular dynamics simulations performed on Mpro and PLpro active site complexes with the four top-scoring ligands from Vina demonstrated that the most stable complexes were formed with compounds 89-32 and 89-38. Overall, the present computational strategy generated new compounds with predicted drug-like characteristics, low mammalian toxicity, and high inhibitory potencies against both target proteases to form stable complexes. Further preclinical studies will be required to validate the in silico findings before the lead compounds could be considered for clinical trials.
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100
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Chen R, Gao Y, Liu H, Li H, Chen W, Ma J. Advances in research on 3C-like protease (3CL pro) inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 since 2020. RSC Med Chem 2023; 14:9-21. [PMID: 36760740 PMCID: PMC9890616 DOI: 10.1039/d2md00344a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 is still threatening global human health. Although some vaccines and drugs are available in the market, controlling the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus remains a huge challenge. 3C-like protease (3CLpro) is a highly conserved key protease for SARS-CoV-2 replication, and no relevant homologous protein with a similar cleavage site to 3CLpro has been identified in humans, highlighting that development of 3CLpro inhibitors exhibits great promise for treatment of COVID-19. In this review, the authors describe the structure and function of 3CLpro. To better understand the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors, the SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro inhibitors reported since 2020 are classified into peptidomimetic covalent inhibitors, non-peptidomimetic covalent inhibitors and non-covalent small molecule inhibitors, and the representative inhibitors, their biological activities and binding models are highlighted. Collectively, we hope that all the information presented here will provide new insights into the design and development of more effective 3CLpro inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 as novel anti-coronavirus drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roufen Chen
- School of Medicine, Huaqiao University Quanzhou 362000 China
| | - Yali Gao
- Pharmacy Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University Quanzhou 362000 China
| | - Han Liu
- School of Medicine, Huaqiao University Quanzhou 362000 China
| | - He Li
- School of Medicine, Huaqiao University Quanzhou 362000 China
| | - Wenfa Chen
- Pharmacy Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University Quanzhou 362000 China
| | - Junjie Ma
- School of Medicine, Huaqiao University Quanzhou 362000 China
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