X-ray structure and inhibition of the feline infectious peritonitis virus 3C-like protease: Structural implications for drug design

β-Tocotrienol and δ-Tocotrienol as Additional Inhibitors of the Main Protease of Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus: An In Silico Analysis

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a severe and invariably fatal disease affecting both domestic and wild felines with limited effective therapeutic options available. By considering the significant immunomodulatory effects of vitamin E observed in both animal and human models under physiological and pathological conditions, we have provided a full in silico investigation of vitamin E and related compounds and their effect on the crystal structure of feline infectious peritonitis virus 3C-like protease (FIPV-3CLpro). This work revealed the β-tocotrienol and δ-tocotrienol analogs as inhibitor candidates for this protein, suggesting their potential as possible drug compounds against FIP or their supplementary use with current medicines against this disease.

Adaptive Mutation in the Main Protease Cleavage Site of Feline Coronavirus Renders the Virus More Resistant to Main Protease Inhibitors

The rapid global emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused serious health problems, highlighting the urgent need for antiviral drugs. The viral main protease (M^pro) plays an important role in viral replication and thus remains the target of choice for the prevention or treatment of several viral diseases due to high sequence and structural conservation. Prolonged use of viral protease inhibitors can lead to the development of mutants resistant to those inhibitors and to many of the available antiviral drugs. Here, we used feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) as a model to investigate its development of resistance under pressure from the M^pro inhibitor GC376. Passage of wild-type (WT) FIPV in the presence of GC376 selected for a mutation in the nsp12 region where M^pro cleaves the substrate between nsp12 and nsp13. This mutation confers up to 3-fold resistance to GC376 and nirmatrelvir, as determined by EC₅₀ assay. In vitro biochemical and cellular experiments confirmed that FIPV adapts to the stress of GC376 by mutating the nsp12 and nsp13 hydrolysis site to facilitate cleavage by M^pro and release to mediate replication and transcription. Finally, we demonstrate that GC376 cannot treat FIP-resistant mutants that cause FIP in animals. Taken together, these results suggest that M^pro affects the replication of coronaviruses (CoVs) and the drug resistance to GC376 by regulating the amount of RdRp from a distant site. These findings provide further support for the use of an antiviral drug combination as a broad-spectrum therapy to protect against contemporary and emerging CoVs. IMPORTANCE CoVs cause serious human infections, and antiviral drugs are currently approved to treat these infections. The development of protease-targeting therapeutics for CoV infection is hindered by resistance mutations. Therefore, we should pay attention to its resistance to antiviral drugs. Here, we identified possible mutations that lead to relapse after clinical treatment of FIP. One amino acid substitution in the nsp12 polymerase at the M^pro cleavage site provided low-level resistance to GC376 after selection exposure to the GC376 parental nucleoside. Resistance mutations enhanced FIPV viral fitness in vitro and attenuated the therapeutic effect of GC376 in an animal model of FIPV infection. Our research explains the evolutionary characteristics of coronaviruses under antiviral drugs, which is helpful for a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of virus resistance and provides important basic data for the effective prevention and control of CoVs.

Crystallization of Feline Coronavirus Mpro With GC376 Reveals Mechanism of Inhibition

Coronaviruses infect a variety of hosts in the animal kingdom, and while each virus is taxonomically different, they all infect their host via the same mechanism. The coronavirus main protease (Mpro, also called 3CLpro), is an attractive target for drug development due to its essential role in mediating viral replication and transcription. An Mpro inhibitor, GC376, has been shown to treat feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a fatal infection in cats caused by internal mutations in the feline enteric coronavirus (FECV). Recently, our lab demonstrated that the feline drug, GC373, and prodrug, GC376, are potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and solved the structures in complex with the drugs; however, no crystal structures of the FIP virus (FIPV) Mpro with the feline drugs have been published so far. Here, we present crystal structures of FIPV Mpro-GC373/GC376 complexes, revealing the inhibitors covalently bound to Cys144 in the active site, similar to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Additionally, GC376 has a higher affinity for FIPV Mpro with lower nanomolar Ki values compared to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. We also show that improved derivatives of GC376 have higher potency for FIPV Mpro. Since GC373 and GC376 represent strong starting points for structure-guided drug design, determining the crystal structures of FIPV Mpro with these inhibitors are important steps in drug optimization and structure-based broad-spectrum antiviral drug discovery.

Preclinical characterization of an intravenous coronavirus 3CL protease inhibitor for the potential treatment of COVID19

COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has become a global pandemic. 3CL protease is a virally encoded protein that is essential across a broad spectrum of coronaviruses with no close human analogs. PF-00835231, a 3CL protease inhibitor, has exhibited potent in vitro antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 as a single agent. Here we report, the design and characterization of a phosphate prodrug PF-07304814 to enable the delivery and projected sustained systemic exposure in human of PF-00835231 to inhibit coronavirus family 3CL protease activity with selectivity over human host protease targets. Furthermore, we show that PF-00835231 has additive/synergistic activity in combination with remdesivir. We present the ADME, safety, in vitro, and in vivo antiviral activity data that supports the clinical evaluation of PF-07304814 as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

C60 fullerene against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus: an in silico insight

Based on WHO reports the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is currently widespread all over the world. So far > 162 million cases have been confirmed, including > 3 million deaths. Because of the pandemic still spreading across the globe the accomplishment of computational methods to find new potential mechanisms of virus inhibitions is necessary. According to the fact that C60 fullerene (a sphere-shaped molecule consisting of carbon) has shown inhibitory activity against various protein targets, here the analysis of the potential binding mechanism between SARS-CoV-2 proteins 3CLpro and RdRp with C60 fullerene was done; it has resulted in one and two possible binding mechanisms, respectively. In the case of 3CLpro, C60 fullerene interacts in the catalytic binding pocket. And for RdRp in the first model C60 fullerene blocks RNA synthesis pore and in the second one it prevents binding with Nsp8 co-factor (without this complex formation, RdRp can't perform its initial functions). Then the molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the stability of created complexes. The obtained results might be a basis for other computational studies of 3CLPro and RdRp potential inhibition ways as well as the potential usage of C60 fullerene in the fight against COVID-19 disease.

Discovery of a Novel Inhibitor of Coronavirus 3CL Protease for the Potential Treatment of COVID-19

COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has become a global pandemic. 3CL protease is a virally encoded protein that is essential across a broad spectrum of coronaviruses with no close human analogs. The designed phosphate prodrug PF-07304814 is metabolized to PF-00835321 which is a potent inhibitor in vitro of the coronavirus family 3CL pro, with selectivity over human host protease targets. Furthermore, PF-00835231 exhibits potent in vitro antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 as a single agent and it is additive/synergistic in combination with remdesivir. We present the ADME, safety, in vitro , and in vivo antiviral activity data that supports the clinical evaluation of this compound as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

What coronavirus 3C-like protease tells us: From structure, substrate selectivity, to inhibitor design

The emergence of a variety of coronaviruses (CoVs) in the last decades has posed huge threats to human health. Especially, the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to more than 70 million infections and over 1.6 million of deaths worldwide in the past few months. None of the efficacious antiviral agents against human CoVs have been approved yet. 3C-like protease (3CL^pro ) is an attractive target for antiviral intervention due to its essential role in processing polyproteins translated from viral RNA, and its conserved structural feature and substrate specificity among CoVs in spite of the sequence variation. This review focuses on all available crystal structures of 12 CoV 3CL^pro s and their inhibitors, and intends to provide a comprehensive understanding of this protease from multiple aspects including its structural features, substrate specificity, inhibitor binding modes, and more importantly, to recapitulate the similarity and diversity among different CoV 3CL^pro s and the structure-activity relationship of various types of inhibitors. Such an attempt could gain a deep insight into the inhibition mechanisms and drive future structure-based drug discovery targeting 3CL^pro s.

Potential molecular targets of nonstructural proteins for the development of antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 infection

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The pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 has posed significant threats to public health worldwide.

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Target-based drug development is a promising approach against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Nonstructural proteins may play critical roles from drug design perspectives.

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Insights into NSPs of different viruses could streamline novel drug development.

Outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and SARS-CoV-2 have produced high pathogenicity and mortality rates in human populations. However, to meet the increasing demand for treatment of these pathogenic coronaviruses, accelerating novel antiviral drug development as much as possible has become a public concern. Target-based drug development may be a promising approach to achieve this goal. In this review, the relevant features of potential molecular targets in human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are highlighted, including the viral protease, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and methyltransferases. Additionally, recent advances in the development of antivirals based on these targets are summarized. This review is expected to provide new insights and potential strategies for the development of novel antiviral drugs to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Discovery of M Protease Inhibitors Encoded by SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus (CoV) disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a health threat worldwide. Viral main protease (M^pro, also called 3C-like protease [3CL^pro]) is a therapeutic target for drug discovery. Herein, we report that GC376, a broad-spectrum inhibitor targeting M^pro in the picornavirus-like supercluster, is a potent inhibitor for the M^pro encoded by SARS-CoV-2, with a half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 26.4 ± 1.1 nM. In this study, we also show that GC376 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication with a half-maximum effective concentration (EC₅₀) of 0.91 ± 0.03 μM. Only a small portion of SARS-CoV-2 M^pro was covalently modified in the excess of GC376 as evaluated by mass spectrometry analysis, indicating that improved inhibitors are needed. Subsequently, molecular docking analysis revealed that the recognition and binding groups of GC376 within the active site of SARS-CoV-2 M^pro provide important new information for the optimization of GC376. Given that sufficient safety and efficacy data are available for GC376 as an investigational veterinary drug, expedited development of GC376, or its optimized analogues, for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection in human is recommended.

Drug Development and Medicinal Chemistry Efforts toward SARS-Coronavirus and Covid-19 Therapeutics

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection is spreading at an alarming rate and has created an unprecedented health emergency around the globe. There is no effective vaccine or approved drug treatment against COVID-19 and other pathogenic coronaviruses. The development of antiviral agents is an urgent priority. Biochemical events critical to the coronavirus replication cycle provided a number of attractive targets for drug development. These include, spike protein for binding to host cell-surface receptors, proteolytic enzymes that are essential for processing polyproteins into mature viruses, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase for RNA replication. There has been a lot of ground work for drug discovery and development against these targets. Also, high-throughput screening efforts have led to the identification of diverse lead structures, including natural product-derived molecules. This review highlights past and present drug discovery and medicinal-chemistry approaches against SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and COVID-19 targets. The review hopes to stimulate further research and will be a useful guide to the development of effective therapies against COVID-19 and other pathogenic coronaviruses.

Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus Nsp5 Inhibits Type I Interferon Production by Cleaving NEMO at Multiple Sites

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), caused by virulent feline coronavirus, is the leading infectious cause of death in cats. The type I interferon (type I IFN)-mediated immune responses provide host protection from infectious diseases. Several coronaviruses have been reported to evolve diverse strategies to evade host IFN response. However, whether feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) antagonizes the type I IFN signaling remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that FIPV strain DF2 infection not only failed to induce interferon-β (IFN-β) and interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) production, but also inhibited Sendai virus (SEV) or polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C))-induced IFN-β production. Subsequently, we found that one of the non-structural proteins encoded by the FIPV genome, nsp5, interrupted type I IFN signaling in a protease-dependent manner by cleaving the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) essential modulator (NEMO) at three sites—glutamine132 (Q132), Q205, and Q231. Further investigation revealed that the cleavage products of NEMO lost the ability to activate the IFN-β promoter. Mechanistically, the nsp5-mediated NEMO cleavage disrupted the recruitment of the TRAF family member-associated NF-κB activator (TANK) to NEMO, which reduced the phosphorylation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), leading to the inhibition of type I IFN production. Our research provides new insights into the mechanism for FIPV to counteract host innate immune response.

In silico and in vitro analysis of small molecules and natural compounds targeting the 3CL protease of feline infectious peritonitis virus

The computational search of chemical libraries has been used as a powerful tool for the rapid discovery of candidate compounds. To find small molecules with anti-feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) properties, we utilized a virtual screening technique to identify the active site on the viral protease for the binding of the available natural compounds. The protease 3CL (3CL^pro) plays an important role in the replication cycle of FIPV and other viruses within the family Coronaviridae. The 15 best-ranked candidate consensus compounds, based on three docking tools, were evaluated for further assays. The protease inhibitor assay on recombinant FIPV 3CL^pro was performed to screen the inhibitory effect of the candidate compounds with IC₅₀ ranging from 6.36 ± 2.15 to 78.40 ± 2.60 μM. As determined by the cell-based assay, the compounds NSC345647, NSC87511, and NSC343256 showed better EC₅₀ values than the broad-spectrum antiviral drug ribavirin and the protease inhibitor lopinavir, under all the test conditions including pre-viral entry, post-viral entry, and prophylactic activity. The NSC87511 particularly yielded the best selective index (>4; range of SI = 13.80-22.90). These results indicated that the natural small-molecular compounds specifically targeted the 3CL^pro of FIPV and inhibited its replication. Structural modification of these compounds may generate a higher anti-viral potency for the further development of a novel therapy against FIP.

Generating and evaluating type I interferon receptor-deficient and feline TMPRSS2-expressing cells for propagating serotype I feline infectious peritonitis virus

Feline coronavirus infection can progress to a fatal infectious peritonitis, which is a widespread feline disease without an effective vaccine. Generating feline cells with reduced ability to respond to interferon (IFN) is an essential step facilitating isolation of new candidate vaccine strains. Here, we describe the use of Crispr/Cas technology to disrupt type I IFN signaling in two feline cell lines, AK-D and Fcwf-4 CU, and evaluate the replication kinetics of a serotype I feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) within these cells. We report that polyclonal cell populations and a clonal isolate, termed Fcwf-4 IRN, exhibited significantly diminished IFN-responsiveness and allowed FIPV replication kinetics comparable to parental cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that replication of FIPV is enhanced by ectopic expression of a host serine protease, TMPRSS2, in these cells. We discuss the potential of these cells for isolating new clinical strains and for propagating candidate vaccine strains of FIPV.

Characterizing replication kinetics and plaque production of type I feline infectious peritonitis virus in three feline cell lines

Investigating type I feline coronaviruses (FCoVs) in tissue culture is critical for understanding the basic virology, pathogenesis, and virus-host interactome of these important veterinary pathogens. This has been a perennial challenge as type I FCoV strains do not easily adapt to cell culture. Here we characterize replication kinetics and plaque formation of a model type I strain FIPV Black in Fcwf-4 cells established at Cornell University (Fcwf-4 CU). We determined that maximum virus titers (>10⁷ pfu/mL) were recoverable from infected Fcwf-4 CU cell-free supernatant at 20 h post-infection. Type I FIPV Black and both biotypes of type II FCoV formed uniform and enumerable plaques on Fcwf-4 CU cells. Therefore, these cells were employable in a standardized plaque assay. Finally, we determined that the Fcwf-4 CU cells were morphologically distinct from feline bone marrow-derived macrophages and were less sensitive to exogenous type I interferon than were Fcwf-4 cells purchased from ATCC.

X-Ray Structure and Inhibition of 3C-like Protease from Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a coronavirus that infects pigs and can have mortality rates approaching 100% in piglets, causing serious economic impact. The 3C-like protease (3CL(pro)) is essential for the coronaviral life cycle and is an appealing target for the development of therapeutics. We report the expression, purification, crystallization and 2.10 Å X-ray structure of 3CL(pro) from PEDV. Analysis of the PEDV 3CL(pro) structure and comparison to other coronaviral 3CL(pro)'s from the same alpha-coronavirus phylogeny shows that the overall structures and active site architectures across 3CL(pro)'s are conserved, with the exception of a loop that comprises the protease S2 pocket. We found a known inhibitor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) 3CL(pro), (R)-16, to have inhibitor activity against PEDV 3CL(pro), despite that SARS-3CL(pro) and PEDV 3CL(pro) share only 45.4% sequence identity. Structural comparison reveals that the majority of residues involved in (R)-16 binding to SARS-3CL(pro) are conserved in PEDV-3CL(pro); however, the sequence variation and positional difference in the loop forming the S2 pocket may account for large observed difference in IC50 values. This work advances our understanding of the subtle, but important, differences in coronaviral 3CL(pro) architecture and contributes to the broader structural knowledge of coronaviral 3CL(pro)'s.