1
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Aljuhani A, Alsehli M, Seleem MA, Alraqa SY, Ahmed HEA, Rezki N, Aouad MR. Exploring of N-phthalimide-linked 1,2,3-triazole analogues with promising -anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity: synthesis, biological screening, and molecular modelling studies. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2024; 39:2351861. [PMID: 38847308 PMCID: PMC11164105 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2024.2351861] [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: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
In this study, a library of phthalimide Schiff base linked to 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles was designed, synthesised, and characterised by different spectral analyses. All analogues have been introduced for in vitro assay of their antiviral activity against COVID-19 virus using Vero cell as incubator with different concentrations. The data revealed most of these derivatives showed potent cellular anti-COVID-19 activity and prevent viral growth by more than 90% at two different concentrations with no or weak cytotoxic effect on Vero cells. Furthermore, in vitro assay was done against this enzyme for all analogues and the results showed two of them have IC50 data by 90 µM inhibitory activity. An extensive molecular docking simulation was run to analyse their antiviral mechanism that found the proper non-covalent interaction within the Mpro protease enzyme. Finally, we profiled two reversible inhibitors, COOH and F substituted analogues that might be promising drug candidates for further development have been discovered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mosa Alsehli
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed A. Seleem
- Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Nasr, City, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Shaya Y. Alraqa
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hany E. A. Ahmed
- Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Nasr, City, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Nadjet Rezki
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed R. Aouad
- Chemistry Department, College of Sciences, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia
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2
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Li Q, Zhou X, Wang W, Xu Q, Wang Q, Li J. Structural basis of rosmarinic acid inhibitory mechanism on SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2024; 724:150230. [PMID: 38865813 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.150230] [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: 05/25/2024] [Revised: 06/01/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is characterized by high mutation rates and significant infectivity, posing ongoing challenges for therapeutic intervention. To address potential challenges in the future, the continued development of effective drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 remains an important task for the scientific as well as the pharmaceutical community. The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is an ideal therapeutic target for COVID-19 drug development, leading to the introduction of various inhibitors, both covalent and non-covalent, each characterized by unique mechanisms of action and possessing inherent strengths and limitations. Natural products, being compounds naturally present in the environment, offer advantages such as low toxicity and diverse activities, presenting a viable source for antiviral drug development. Here, we identified a natural compound, rosmarinic acid, which exhibits significant inhibitory effects on the Mpro of the SARS-CoV-2. Through detailed structural biology analysis, we elucidated the precise crystal structure of the complex formed between rosmarinic acid and SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, revealing the molecular basis of its inhibitory mechanism. These findings not only enhance our understanding of the antiviral action of rosmarinic acid, but also provide valuable structural information and mechanistic insights for the further development of therapeutic strategies against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianhui Li
- Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xuelan Zhou
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000, China
| | - Weiwei Wang
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China
| | - Qin Xu
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China
| | - Qisheng Wang
- Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China; Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China.
| | - Jian Li
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000, China.
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3
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Al Adem K, Ferreira JC, Villanueva AJ, Fadl S, El-Sadaany F, Masmoudi I, Gidiya Y, Gurudza T, Cardoso THS, Saksena NK, Rabeh WM. 3-chymotrypsin-like protease in SARS-CoV-2. Biosci Rep 2024; 44:BSR20231395. [PMID: 39036877 DOI: 10.1042/bsr20231395] [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: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 07/16/2024] [Accepted: 07/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses constitute a significant threat to the human population. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, SARS-CoV-2, is a highly pathogenic human coronavirus that has caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It has led to a global viral outbreak with an exceptional spread and a high death toll, highlighting the need for effective antiviral strategies. 3-Chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), the main protease in SARS-CoV-2, plays an indispensable role in the SARS-CoV-2 viral life cycle by cleaving the viral polyprotein to produce 11 individual non-structural proteins necessary for viral replication. 3CLpro is one of two proteases that function to produce new viral particles. It is a highly conserved cysteine protease with identical structural folds in all known human coronaviruses. Inhibitors binding with high affinity to 3CLpro will prevent the cleavage of viral polyproteins, thus impeding viral replication. Multiple strategies have been implemented to screen for inhibitors against 3CLpro, including peptide-like and small molecule inhibitors that covalently and non-covalently bind the active site, respectively. In addition, allosteric sites of 3CLpro have been identified to screen for small molecules that could make non-competitive inhibitors of 3CLpro. In essence, this review serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the structural intricacies and functional dynamics of 3CLpro, emphasizing key findings that elucidate its role as the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. Notably, the review is a critical resource in recognizing the advancements in identifying and developing 3CLpro inhibitors as effective antiviral strategies against COVID-19, some of which are already approved for clinical use in COVID-19 patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenana Al Adem
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Juliana C Ferreira
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Adrian J Villanueva
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Samar Fadl
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Farah El-Sadaany
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Imen Masmoudi
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Yugmee Gidiya
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Tariro Gurudza
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Thyago H S Cardoso
- OMICS Centre of Excellence, G42 Healthcare, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Nitin K Saksena
- Victoria University, Footscray Campus, Melbourne, VIC. Australia
| | - Wael M Rabeh
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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4
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Mehlman T, Ginn HM, Keedy DA. An expanded trove of fragment-bound structures for the allosteric enzyme PTP1B from computational reanalysis of large-scale crystallographic data. Structure 2024; 32:1231-1238.e4. [PMID: 38861991 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2024.05.010] [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: 01/13/2024] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Due to their low binding affinities, detecting small-molecule fragments bound to protein structures from crystallographic datasets has been a challenge. Here, we report a trove of 65 new fragment hits for PTP1B, an "undruggable" therapeutic target enzyme for diabetes and cancer. These structures were obtained from computational analysis of data from a large crystallographic screen, demonstrating the power of this approach to elucidate many (∼50% more) "hidden" ligand-bound states of proteins. Our new structures include a fragment hit found in a novel binding site in PTP1B with a unique location relative to the active site, one that links adjacent allosteric sites, and, perhaps most strikingly, a fragment that induces long-range allosteric protein conformational responses. Altogether, our research highlights the utility of computational analysis of crystallographic data, makes publicly available dozens of new ligand-bound structures of a high-value drug target, and identifies novel aspects of ligandability and allostery in PTP1B.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar Mehlman
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031, USA; PhD Program in Biochemistry, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Helen M Ginn
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany; Institute for Nanostructure and Solid State Physics, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Division of Life Sciences, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
| | - Daniel A Keedy
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA; PhD Programs in Biochemistry, Biology, & Chemistry, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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5
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Ibrahim PEGF, Zuccotto F, Zachariae U, Gilbert I, Bodkin M. Accurate prediction of dynamic protein-ligand binding using P-score ranking. J Comput Chem 2024; 45:1762-1778. [PMID: 38647338 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27370] [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: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Protein-ligand binding prediction typically relies on docking methodologies and associated scoring functions to propose the binding mode of a ligand in a biological target. Significant challenges are associated with this approach, including the flexibility of the protein-ligand system, solvent-mediated interactions, and associated entropy changes. In addition, scoring functions are only weakly accurate due to the short time required for calculating enthalpic and entropic binding interactions. The workflow described here attempts to address these limitations by combining supervised molecular dynamics with dynamical averaging quantum mechanics fragment molecular orbital. This combination significantly increased the ability to predict the experimental binding structure of protein-ligand complexes independent from the starting position of the ligands or the binding site conformation. We found that the predictive power could be enhanced by combining the residence time and interaction energies as descriptors in a novel scoring function named the P-score. This is illustrated using six different protein-ligand targets as case studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter E G F Ibrahim
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Fabio Zuccotto
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Ulrich Zachariae
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Ian Gilbert
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Mike Bodkin
- Drug Discovery Unit, Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
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6
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Hekstra DR, Wang HK, Klureza MA, Greisman JB, Dalton KM. Sensitive Detection of Structural Differences using a Statistical Framework for Comparative Crystallography. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.22.604476. [PMID: 39091831 PMCID: PMC11291090 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.22.604476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2024]
Abstract
Chemical and conformational changes underlie the functional cycles of proteins. Comparative crystallography can reveal these changes over time, over ligands, and over chemical and physical perturbations in atomic detail. A key difficulty, however, is that the resulting observations must be placed on the same scale by correcting for experimental factors. We recently introduced a Bayesian framework for correcting (scaling) X-ray diffraction data by combining deep learning with statistical priors informed by crystallographic theory. To scale comparative crystallography data, we here combine this framework with a multivariate statistical theory of comparative crystallography. By doing so, we find strong improvements in the detection of protein dynamics, element-specific anomalous signal, and the binding of drug fragments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doeke R. Hekstra
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
| | - Harrison K. Wang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- Graduate Program in Biophysics, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Margaret A. Klureza
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Jack B. Greisman
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- Current address: D. E. Shaw Research New York, NY 10036, USA
| | - Kevin M. Dalton
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025
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7
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Sternicki LM, Poulsen SA. Fragment-based drug discovery campaigns guided by native mass spectrometry. RSC Med Chem 2024; 15:2270-2285. [PMID: 39026646 PMCID: PMC11253872 DOI: 10.1039/d4md00273c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Native mass spectrometry (nMS) is well established as a biophysical technique for characterising biomolecules and their interactions with endogenous or investigational small molecule ligands. The high sensitivity mass measurements make nMS particularly well suited for applications in fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) screening campaigns where the detection of weakly binding ligands to a target biomolecule is crucial. We first reviewed the contributions of nMS to guiding FBDD hit identification in 2013, providing a comprehensive perspective on the early adoption of nMS for fragment screening. Here we update this initial progress with a focus on contributions of nMS that have guided FBDD for the period 2014 until end of 2023. We highlight the development of nMS adoption in FBDD in the context of other biophysical fragment screening techniques. We also discuss the roadmap for increased adoption of nMS for fragment screening beyond soluble proteins, including for guiding the discovery of fragments supporting advances in PROTAC discovery, RNA-binding small molecules and covalent therapeutic drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise M Sternicki
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University Nathan Brisbane Queensland 4111 Australia
- ARC Centre for Fragment-Based Design Australia
| | - Sally-Ann Poulsen
- Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University Nathan Brisbane Queensland 4111 Australia
- ARC Centre for Fragment-Based Design Australia
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8
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de Sousa NF, Duarte GD, Moraes CB, Barbosa CG, Martin HJ, Muratov NN, do Nascimento YM, Scotti L, de Freitas-Júnior LHG, Filho JMB, Scotti MT. In Silico and In Vitro Studies of Terpenes from the Fabaceae Family Using the Phenotypic Screening Model against the SARS-CoV-2 Virus. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:912. [PMID: 39065609 PMCID: PMC11279753 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16070912] [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: 06/05/2024] [Revised: 07/02/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
In 2019, the emergence of the seventh known coronavirus to cause severe illness in humans triggered a global effort towards the development of new drugs and vaccines for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These efforts are still ongoing in 2024, including the present work where we conducted a ligand-based virtual screening of terpenes with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. We constructed a Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) model from compounds with known activity against SARS-CoV-2 with a model accuracy of 0.71. We utilized this model to predict the activity of a series of 217 terpenes isolated from the Fabaceae family. Four compounds, predominantly triterpenoids from the lupane series, were subjected to an in vitro phenotypic screening in Vero CCL-81 cells to assess their inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2. The compounds which showed high rates of SARS-CoV-2 inhibition along with substantial cell viability underwent molecular docking at the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, papain-like protease, spike protein and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Overall, virtual screening through our QSAR model successfully identified compounds with the highest probability of activity, as validated using the in vitro study. This confirms the potential of the identified triterpenoids as promising candidates for anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natália Ferreira de Sousa
- Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil; (N.F.d.S.); (Y.M.d.N.); (L.S.); (J.M.B.F.)
| | - Gabrielly Diniz Duarte
- Postgraduate Program in Development and Innovation of Drugs and Medicines, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil;
| | - Carolina Borsoi Moraes
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo (ICB-USP), São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil; (C.B.M.); (C.G.B.); (L.H.G.d.F.-J.)
| | - Cecília Gomes Barbosa
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo (ICB-USP), São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil; (C.B.M.); (C.G.B.); (L.H.G.d.F.-J.)
| | - Holli-Joi Martin
- Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA;
| | - Nail N. Muratov
- Department of Chemical Technology, Odessa National Polytechnic University, 65000 Odessa, Ukraine;
- A. V. Bogatsky Physical-Chemical Institute of NASU, 65047 Odessa, Ukraine
| | - Yuri Mangueira do Nascimento
- Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil; (N.F.d.S.); (Y.M.d.N.); (L.S.); (J.M.B.F.)
| | - Luciana Scotti
- Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil; (N.F.d.S.); (Y.M.d.N.); (L.S.); (J.M.B.F.)
| | | | - José Maria Barbosa Filho
- Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil; (N.F.d.S.); (Y.M.d.N.); (L.S.); (J.M.B.F.)
| | - Marcus Tullius Scotti
- Postgraduate Program in Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Products, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil; (N.F.d.S.); (Y.M.d.N.); (L.S.); (J.M.B.F.)
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9
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Fomina AD, Uvarova VI, Kozlovskaya LI, Palyulin VA, Osolodkin DI, Ishmukhametov AA. Ensemble docking based virtual screening of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors. Mol Inform 2024:e202300279. [PMID: 38973780 DOI: 10.1002/minf.202300279] [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: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
During the first years of COVID-19 pandemic, X-ray structures of the coronavirus drug targets were acquired at an unprecedented rate, giving hundreds of PDB depositions in less than a year. The main protease (Mpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the primary validated target of direct-acting antivirals. The selection of the optimal ensemble of structures of Mpro for the docking-driven virtual screening campaign was thus non-trivial and required a systematic and automated approach. Here we report a semi-automated active site RMSD based procedure of ensemble selection from the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro crystallographic data and virtual screening of its inhibitors. The procedure was compared with other approaches to ensemble selection and validated with the help of hand-picked and peer-reviewed activity-annotated libraries. Prospective virtual screening of non-covalent Mpro inhibitors resulted in a new chemotype of thienopyrimidinone derivatives with experimentally confirmed enzyme inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia D Fomina
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), 108819, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Victoria I Uvarova
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), 108819, Moscow, Russia
| | - Liubov I Kozlovskaya
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), 108819, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vladimir A Palyulin
- Department of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry I Osolodkin
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), 108819, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
| | - Aydar A Ishmukhametov
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), 108819, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, 119991, Moscow, Russia
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10
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Ferreira JC, Villanueva AJ, Fadl S, Al Adem K, Cinviz ZN, Nedyalkova L, Cardoso THS, Andrade ME, Saksena NK, Sensoy O, Rabeh WM. Residues in the fructose-binding pocket are required for ketohexokinase-A activity. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107538. [PMID: 38971308 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107538] [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: 03/06/2024] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Excessive fructose consumption is a primary contributor to the global surges in obesity, cancer, and metabolic syndrome. Fructolysis is not robustly regulated and is initiated by ketohexokinase (KHK). In this study, we determined the crystal structure of KHK-A, one of two human isozymes of KHK, in the apo-state at 1.85 Å resolution, and we investigated the roles of residues in the fructose-binding pocket by mutational analysis. Introducing alanine at D15, N42, or N45 inactivated KHK-A, whereas mutating R141 or K174 reduced activity and thermodynamic stability. Kinetic studies revealed that the R141A and K174A mutations reduced fructose affinity by 2- to 4-fold compared to WT KHK-A, without affecting ATP affinity. Molecular dynamics simulations provided mechanistic insights into the potential roles of the mutated residues in ligand coordination and the maintenance of an open state in one monomer and a closed state in the other. Protein-protein interactome analysis indicated distinct expression patterns and downregulation of partner proteins in different tumor tissues, warranting a reevaluation of KHK's role in cancer development and progression. The connections between different cancer genes and the KHK signaling pathway suggest that KHK is a potential target for preventing cancer metastasis. This study enhances our understanding of KHK-A's structure and function and offers valuable insights into potential targets for developing treatments for obesity, cancer, and metabolic syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana C Ferreira
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Adrian J Villanueva
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Samar Fadl
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Kenana Al Adem
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Zeynep Nur Cinviz
- Graduate School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Lyudmila Nedyalkova
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Mario Edson Andrade
- Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Nitin K Saksena
- Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ozge Sensoy
- Graduate School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey; Regenerative and Restorative Medicine Research Center (REMER), Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technologies (SABITA), Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Wael M Rabeh
- Science Division, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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11
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Gomes SF, Alvarenga ES, Baia VC, Oliveira DF. N-Phenylnorbornenesuccinimide derivatives, agricultural defensive, and enzymatic target selection. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2024; 80:3278-3292. [PMID: 38372427 DOI: 10.1002/ps.8031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Faced with the need to develop new herbicides with modes of action different to those observed for existing agrochemicals, one of the most promising strategies employed by synthetic chemists involves the structural modification of molecules found in natural products. Molecules containing amides, imides, and epoxides as functional groups are prevalent in nature and find extensive application in synthesizing more intricate compounds due to their biological properties. In this context, this paper delineates the synthesis of N-phenylnorbornenesuccinimide derivatives, conducts biological assays, and carries out in silico investigation of the protein target associated with the most potent compound in plant organisms. The phytotoxic effects of the synthesized compounds (2-29) were evaluated on Allium cepa, Bidens pilosa, Cucumis sativus, Sorghum bicolor, and Solanum lycopersicum. RESULTS Reaction of endo-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-3a,7a-dicarboxylic anhydride (1) with aromatic amines led to the N-phenylnorbornenesuccinic acids (2-11) with yields ranging from 75% to 90%. Cyclization of compounds (2-11) in the presence of acetic anhydride and sodium acetate afforded N-phenylnorbornenesuccinimides (12-20) with yields varying from 65% to 89%. Those imides were then subjected to epoxidation reaction to afford N-phenylepoxynorbornanesuccimides (21-29) with yields from 60% to 90%. All compounds inhibited the growth of seedlings of the plants evaluated. Substance 23 was the most active against the plants tested, inhibiting 100% the growth of all species in all concentrations. Cyclophilin was found to be the enzymatic target of compound 23. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that derivatives of N-phenylnorbornenesuccinimide are promising compounds in the quest for more selective and stable agrochemicals. This perspective reinforces the significance of these derivatives as potential innovative herbicides and emphasizes the importance of further exploring their biological activity on weeds. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabriny F Gomes
- Department of Chemistry, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil
| | - Elson S Alvarenga
- Department of Chemistry, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil
| | - Vitor C Baia
- Department of Chemistry, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil
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12
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Wankowicz SA, Ravikumar A, Sharma S, Riley B, Raju A, Hogan DW, Flowers J, van den Bedem H, Keedy DA, Fraser JS. Automated multiconformer model building for X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM. eLife 2024; 12:RP90606. [PMID: 38904665 PMCID: PMC11192534 DOI: 10.7554/elife.90606] [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] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
In their folded state, biomolecules exchange between multiple conformational states that are crucial for their function. Traditional structural biology methods, such as X-ray crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), produce density maps that are ensemble averages, reflecting molecules in various conformations. Yet, most models derived from these maps explicitly represent only a single conformation, overlooking the complexity of biomolecular structures. To accurately reflect the diversity of biomolecular forms, there is a pressing need to shift toward modeling structural ensembles that mirror the experimental data. However, the challenge of distinguishing signal from noise complicates manual efforts to create these models. In response, we introduce the latest enhancements to qFit, an automated computational strategy designed to incorporate protein conformational heterogeneity into models built into density maps. These algorithmic improvements in qFit are substantiated by superior Rfree and geometry metrics across a wide range of proteins. Importantly, unlike more complex multicopy ensemble models, the multiconformer models produced by qFit can be manually modified in most major model building software (e.g., Coot) and fit can be further improved by refinement using standard pipelines (e.g., Phenix, Refmac, Buster). By reducing the barrier of creating multiconformer models, qFit can foster the development of new hypotheses about the relationship between macromolecular conformational dynamics and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie A Wankowicz
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Ashraya Ravikumar
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Shivani Sharma
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research CenterNew YorkUnited States
- Ph.D. Program in Biology, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkNew YorkUnited States
| | - Blake Riley
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research CenterNew YorkUnited States
| | - Akshay Raju
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research CenterNew YorkUnited States
| | - Daniel W Hogan
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Jessica Flowers
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Henry van den Bedem
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
- Atomwise IncSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Daniel A Keedy
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research CenterNew YorkUnited States
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, City College of New YorkNew YorkUnited States
- Ph.D. Programs in Biochemistry, Biology and Chemistry, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkNew YorkUnited States
| | - James S Fraser
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
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13
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Hazemann J, Kimmerlin T, Lange R, Sweeney AM, Bourquin G, Ritz D, Czodrowski P. Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors through deep reinforcement learning for de novo drug design and computational chemistry approaches. RSC Med Chem 2024; 15:2146-2159. [PMID: 38911172 PMCID: PMC11187573 DOI: 10.1039/d4md00106k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 04/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) since its emergence in December 2019. As of January 2024, there has been over 774 million reported cases and 7 million deaths worldwide. While vaccination efforts have been successful in reducing the severity of the disease and decreasing the transmission rate, the development of effective therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 remains a critical need. The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is an essential enzyme required for viral replication and has been identified as a promising target for drug development. In this study, we report the identification of novel Mpro inhibitors, using a combination of deep reinforcement learning for de novo drug design with 3D pharmacophore/shape-based alignment and privileged fragment match count scoring components followed by hit expansions and molecular docking approaches. Our experimentally validated results show that 3 novel series exhibit potent inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, with IC50 values ranging from 1.3 μM to 2.3 μM and a high degree of selectivity. These findings represent promising starting points for the development of new antiviral therapies against COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Hazemann
- Physical Chemistry, Chemistry Department, Johannes Gutenberg University Duesbergweg 10-14 55128 Mainz Germany
- Drug Discovery Chemistry, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Hegenheimermattweg 91 4123 Allschwil Switzerland
| | - Thierry Kimmerlin
- Drug Discovery Chemistry, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Hegenheimermattweg 91 4123 Allschwil Switzerland
| | - Roland Lange
- Drug Discovery Chemistry, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Hegenheimermattweg 91 4123 Allschwil Switzerland
| | - Aengus Mac Sweeney
- Drug Discovery Chemistry, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Hegenheimermattweg 91 4123 Allschwil Switzerland
| | - Geoffroy Bourquin
- Drug Discovery Chemistry, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Hegenheimermattweg 91 4123 Allschwil Switzerland
| | - Daniel Ritz
- Drug Discovery Chemistry, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Hegenheimermattweg 91 4123 Allschwil Switzerland
| | - Paul Czodrowski
- Physical Chemistry, Chemistry Department, Johannes Gutenberg University Duesbergweg 10-14 55128 Mainz Germany
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14
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Deshmukh N, Talkal R, Lakshmi B. In silico screening of potential inhibitors from Cordyceps species against SARS-CoV-2 main protease. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:4395-4411. [PMID: 37325819 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2225110] [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: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a result of a retroviral infection of SARS-CoV-2. Due to its virulence and high infection rate, it is a matter of serious concern and a global health emergency. Currently available COVID-19 vaccines approved by regulatory bodies around the world have been shown to provide significant protection against COVID-19. But no vaccine is 100% effective at preventing infection, also they have varying efficacy rates and different side effects. However, the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as a key drug target due to its essential role in viral infection and its minimal similarity with human proteases. Cordyceps mushrooms have been found to have various therapeutic properties that could effectively combat SARS-CoV-2, including improve lung functioning, anti-viral, immunomodulators, anti-infectious, and anti-inflammatory. The present study aims to screen and evaluate the inhibitory potential of the bioactive molecules from the Cordyceps species against the Mpro of SARS-CoV-2. The bioactive molecules were screened based on their docking score, molecular interactions in the binding pocket, ADME properties, toxicity, carcinogenicity, and mutagenicity. Among all the molecules that were tested, cordycepic acid was the most effective and promising candidate, with a binding affinity of -8.10 kcal/mol against Mpro. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and free binding energy calculations revealed that the cordycepic acid-Mpro complex was highly stable and showed fewer conformational fluctuations. These findings need to be investigated further through in-vitro and in-vivo studies for additional validation.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niketan Deshmukh
- L J School of Applied Sciences, L J University, Ahmedabad, India
| | - Reshma Talkal
- Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre, Gandhinagar, India
| | - Bhaskaran Lakshmi
- Department of Biotechnology, Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya, Gandhinagar, India
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15
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Xiao Q, Wu T, Bao K, Tang J, Zhang Y, Zhang W, Zhu Z, Gu Y, Zhou S, Li C, Lu L, Jiang L, Liu Y, Qin W. Upgrade of crystallography beamline BL19U1 at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. J Appl Crystallogr 2024; 57:630-637. [PMID: 38846766 PMCID: PMC11151664 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576724002188] [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: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
BL19U1, an energy-tunable protein complex crystallography beamline at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, has emerged as one of the most productive MX beamlines since opening to the public in July 2015. As of October 2023, it has contributed to over 2000 protein structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), resulting in the publication of more than 1000 scientific papers. In response to increasing interest in structure-based drug design utilizing X-ray crystallography for fragment library screening, enhancements have been implemented in both hardware and data collection systems on the beamline to optimize efficiency. Hardware upgrades include the transition from MD2 to MD2S for the diffractometer, alongside the installation of a humidity controller featuring a rapid nozzle exchanger. This allows users to opt for either low-temperature or room-temperature data collection modes. The control system has been upgraded from Blu-Ice to MXCuBE3, which supports website-mode data collection, providing enhanced compatibility and easy expansion with new features. An automated data processing pipeline has also been developed to offer users real-time feedback on data quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingjie Xiao
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Tingting Wu
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Kangwen Bao
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jianchao Tang
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yupu Zhang
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Weizhe Zhang
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhongjie Zhu
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yijun Gu
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Shuyu Zhou
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Chunyu Li
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Lanlu Lu
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Luozhen Jiang
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yang Liu
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
| | - Wenming Qin
- National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201210, People’s Republic of China
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16
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Hillebrand L, Liang XJ, Serafim RAM, Gehringer M. Emerging and Re-emerging Warheads for Targeted Covalent Inhibitors: An Update. J Med Chem 2024; 67:7668-7758. [PMID: 38711345 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Covalent inhibitors and other types of covalent modalities have seen a revival in the past two decades, with a variety of new targeted covalent drugs having been approved in recent years. A key feature of such molecules is an intrinsically reactive group, typically a weak electrophile, which enables the irreversible or reversible formation of a covalent bond with a specific amino acid of the target protein. This reactive group, often called the "warhead", is a critical determinant of the ligand's activity, selectivity, and general biological properties. In 2019, we summarized emerging and re-emerging warhead chemistries to target cysteine and other amino acids (Gehringer, M.; Laufer, S. A. J. Med. Chem. 2019, 62, 5673-5724; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01153). Since then, the field has rapidly evolved. Here we discuss the progress on covalent warheads made since our last Perspective and their application in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Hillebrand
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Xiaojun Julia Liang
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) "Image-Guided & Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies", University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ricardo A M Serafim
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Matthias Gehringer
- Department of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180) "Image-Guided & Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies", University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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17
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Evans D, Sheraz S, Lau A. SARS-CoV-2 3CLPro Dihedral Angles Reveal Allosteric Signaling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.22.595309. [PMID: 38826232 PMCID: PMC11142162 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.22.595309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
In allosteric proteins, identifying the pathways that signals take from allosteric ligand-binding sites to enzyme active sites or binding pockets and interfaces remains challenging. This avenue of research is motivated by the goals of understanding particular macromolecular systems of interest and creating general methods for their study. An especially important protein that is the subject of many investigations in allostery is the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), which is necessary for coronaviral replication. It is both an attractive drug target and, due to intense interest in it for the development of pharmaceutical compounds, a gauge of the state-of-the-art approaches in studying protein inhibition. Here we develop a computational method for characterizing protein allostery and use it to study Mpro. We propose a role of the protein's C-terminal tail in allosteric modulation and warn of unintuitive traps that can plague studies of the role of protein dihedrals angles in transmitting allosteric signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Evans
- Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Samreen Sheraz
- Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
| | - Albert Lau
- Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States
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18
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Miura T, Malla TR, Brewitz L, Tumber A, Salah E, Lee KJ, Terasaka N, Owen CD, Strain-Damerell C, Lukacik P, Walsh MA, Kawamura A, Schofield CJ, Katoh T, Suga H. Cyclic β 2,3-amino acids improve the serum stability of macrocyclic peptide inhibitors targeting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN 2024; 97:uoae018. [PMID: 38828441 PMCID: PMC11141402 DOI: 10.1093/bulcsj/uoae018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2023] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Due to their constrained conformations, cyclic β2,3-amino acids (cβAA) are key building blocks that can fold peptides into compact and rigid structures, improving peptidase resistance and binding affinity to target proteins, due to their constrained conformations. Although the translation efficiency of cβAAs is generally low, our engineered tRNA, referred to as tRNAPro1E2, enabled efficient incorporation of cβAAs into peptide libraries using the flexible in vitro translation (FIT) system. Here we report on the design and application of a macrocyclic peptide library incorporating 3 kinds of cβAAs: (1R,2S)-2-aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid (β1), (1S,2S)-2-aminocyclohexane carboxylic acid (β2), and (1R,2R)-2-aminocyclopentane carboxylic acid. This library was applied to an in vitro selection against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). The resultant peptides, BM3 and BM7, bearing one β2 and two β1, exhibited potent inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 40 and 20 nM, respectively. BM3 and BM7 also showed remarkable serum stability with half-lives of 48 and >168 h, respectively. Notably, BM3A and BM7A, wherein the cβAAs were substituted with alanine, lost their inhibitory activities against Mpro and displayed substantially shorter serum half-lives. This observation underscores the significant contribution of cβAA to the activity and stability of peptides. Overall, our results highlight the potential of cβAA in generating potent and highly stable macrocyclic peptides with drug-like properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Miura
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Tika R Malla
- Department of Chemistry and the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, United Kingdom
| | - Lennart Brewitz
- Department of Chemistry and the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony Tumber
- Department of Chemistry and the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, United Kingdom
| | - Eidarus Salah
- Department of Chemistry and the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, United Kingdom
| | - Kang Ju Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Naohiro Terasaka
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - C David Owen
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Diamond Light Source, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
| | - Claire Strain-Damerell
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Diamond Light Source, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
| | - Petra Lukacik
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Diamond Light Source, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
| | - Martin A Walsh
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Diamond Light Source, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
- Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Research Complex at Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0FA, United Kingdom
| | - Akane Kawamura
- Department of Chemistry and the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, United Kingdom
- Chemistry—School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher J Schofield
- Department of Chemistry and the Ineos Oxford Institute for Antimicrobial Research, Chemistry Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA, United Kingdom
| | - Takayuki Katoh
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Suga
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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19
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Lis K, Plewka J, Menezes F, Bielecka E, Chykunova Y, Pustelny K, Niebling S, Garcia AS, Garcia-Alai M, Popowicz GM, Czarna A, Kantyka T, Pyrc K. SARS-CoV-2 M pro oligomerization as a potential target for therapy. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 267:131392. [PMID: 38582483 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131392] [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: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is critical in the virus's replication cycle, facilitating the maturation of polyproteins into functional units. Due to its conservation across taxa, Mpro is a promising target for broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. Targeting Mpro with small molecule inhibitors, such as nirmatrelvir combined with ritonavir (Paxlovid™), which the FDA has approved for post-exposure treatment and prophylaxis, can effectively interrupt the replication process of the virus. A key aspect of Mpro's function is its ability to form a functional dimer. However, the mechanics of dimerization and its influence on proteolytic activity remain less understood. In this study, we utilized biochemical, structural, and molecular modelling approaches to explore Mpro dimerization. We evaluated critical residues, specifically Arg4 and Arg298, that are essential for dimerization. Our results show that changes in the oligomerization state of Mpro directly affect its enzymatic activity and dimerization propensity. We discovered a synergistic relationship influencing dimer formation, involving both intra- and intermolecular interactions. These findings highlight the potential for developing allosteric inhibitors targeting Mpro, offering promising new directions for therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinga Lis
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Virogenetics, Laboratory of Virology, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland; Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24,31-155 Cracow, Poland
| | - Jacek Plewka
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Virogenetics, Laboratory of Virology, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland
| | - Filipe Menezes
- Helmholtz Munich, Molecular Targets and Therapeutics Center, Institute of Structural Biology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Ewa Bielecka
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Laboratory of Proteolysis and Post-translational Modification of Proteins, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland
| | - Yuliya Chykunova
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Virogenetics, Laboratory of Virology, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland; Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Microbiology Department, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Cracow, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Pustelny
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland
| | - Stephan Niebling
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Hamburg, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, Germany; Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Angelica Struve Garcia
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Hamburg, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, Germany; Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maria Garcia-Alai
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Hamburg, Notkestrasse 85, Hamburg, Germany; Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Grzegorz M Popowicz
- Helmholtz Munich, Molecular Targets and Therapeutics Center, Institute of Structural Biology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Anna Czarna
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland.
| | - Tomasz Kantyka
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Laboratory of Proteolysis and Post-translational Modification of Proteins, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland.
| | - Krzysztof Pyrc
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Virogenetics, Laboratory of Virology, Gronostajowa 7a, 30-387 Cracow, Poland.
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20
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Wankowicz SA, Ravikumar A, Sharma S, Riley BT, Raju A, Flowers J, Hogan D, van den Bedem H, Keedy DA, Fraser JS. Uncovering Protein Ensembles: Automated Multiconformer Model Building for X-ray Crystallography and Cryo-EM. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.06.28.546963. [PMID: 37425870 PMCID: PMC10327213 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.28.546963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
In their folded state, biomolecules exchange between multiple conformational states that are crucial for their function. Traditional structural biology methods, such as X-ray crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), produce density maps that are ensemble averages, reflecting molecules in various conformations. Yet, most models derived from these maps explicitly represent only a single conformation, overlooking the complexity of biomolecular structures. To accurately reflect the diversity of biomolecular forms, there is a pressing need to shift towards modeling structural ensembles that mirror the experimental data. However, the challenge of distinguishing signal from noise complicates manual efforts to create these models. In response, we introduce the latest enhancements to qFit, an automated computational strategy designed to incorporate protein conformational heterogeneity into models built into density maps. These algorithmic improvements in qFit are substantiated by superior R f r e e and geometry metrics across a wide range of proteins. Importantly, unlike more complex multicopy ensemble models, the multiconformer models produced by qFit can be manually modified in most major model building software (e.g. Coot) and fit can be further improved by refinement using standard pipelines (e.g. Phenix, Refmac, Buster). By reducing the barrier of creating multiconformer models, qFit can foster the development of new hypotheses about the relationship between macromolecular conformational dynamics and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie A. Wankowicz
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ashraya Ravikumar
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Shivani Sharma
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031
- Ph.D. Program in Biology, The Graduate Center – City University of New York, New York, NY 10016
| | - Blake T. Riley
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031
| | - Akshay Raju
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031
| | - Jessica Flowers
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Hogan
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Henry van den Bedem
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Atomwise, Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Daniel A. Keedy
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031
- Ph.D. Programs in Biochemistry, Biology, and Chemistry, The Graduate Center – City University of New York, New York, NY 10016
| | - James S. Fraser
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
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21
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Behera LM, Gupta PK, Ghosh M, Shadangi S, Rana S. A Rationally Designed Synthetic Antiviral Peptide Binder Targeting the Receptor-Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2. J Phys Chem B 2024. [PMID: 38657271 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c00241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus, is the causative agent responsible for the spread of the COVID19 pandemic across the globe. The global impact of the COVID19 pandemic, the successful approval of vaccines for controlling the pandemic, and the further resurgence of COVID19 necessitate the exploration and validation of alternative therapeutic avenues targeting SARS-CoV-2. The initial entry and further invasion by SARS-CoV-2 require strong protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors expressed on the cell surfaces of various tissues. In principle, disruption of the PPIs between the RBD of SARS-CoV-2 and the ACE2 receptor by designer peptides with optimized pharmacology appears to be an ideal choice for potentially preventing viral entry with minimal immunogenicity. In this context, the current study describes a short, synthetic designer peptide (codenamed SR16, ≤18 aa, molecular weight ≤2.5 kDa), which has a few noncoded amino acids, demonstrates a helical conformation in solution, and also engages the RBD of SARS-CoV-2 through a high-affinity interaction, as judged from a battery of biophysical studies. Further, the designer peptide demonstrates resistance to trypsin degradation, appears to be nontoxic to mammalian cells, and also does not induce hemolysis in freshly isolated human erythrocytes. In summary, SR16 appears to be an ideal peptide binder targeting the RBD of SARS-CoV-2, which has the potential for further optimization and development as an antiviral agent targeting SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lalita Mohan Behera
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 752050, Odisha, India
| | - Pulkit Kr Gupta
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 752050, Odisha, India
| | - Manaswini Ghosh
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 752050, Odisha, India
| | - Sucharita Shadangi
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 752050, Odisha, India
| | - Soumendra Rana
- Chemical Biology Laboratory, School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar 752050, Odisha, India
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22
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Kumar A, Vashisth H. Quantitative Assessment of Energetic Contributions of Residues in a SARS-CoV-2 Viral Enzyme/Nanobody Interface. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:2068-2076. [PMID: 38460144 PMCID: PMC10966652 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01933] [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: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/11/2024]
Abstract
The highly conserved protease enzyme from SARS-CoV-2 (MPro) is crucial for viral replication and is an attractive target for the design of novel inhibitory compounds. MPro is known to be conformationally flexible and has been stabilized in an extended conformation in a complex with a novel nanobody (NB2B4), which inhibits the dimerization of the enzyme via binding to an allosteric site. However, the energetic contributions of the nanobody residues stabilizing the MPro/nanobody interface remain unresolved. We probed these residues using all-atom MD simulations in combination with alchemical free energy calculations by studying the physical residue-residue interactions and discovered the role of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions in stabilizing the complex. Specifically, we found via mutational analysis that three interfacial nanobody residues (Y59, R106, and L109) contributed significantly, two residues (L107 and P110) contributed moderately, and two residues (H112 and T113) contributed minimally to the overall binding affinity of the nanobody. We also discovered that the nanobody affinity could be enhanced via a charge-reversal mutation (D62R) that alters the local interfacial electrostatic environment of this residue in the complex. These findings are potentially useful in designing novel synthetic nanobodies as allosteric inhibitors of MPro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Kumar
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201, United States
| | - Harish Vashisth
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, United States
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23
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Utgés JS, MacGowan SA, Ives CM, Barton GJ. Classification of likely functional class for ligand binding sites identified from fragment screening. Commun Biol 2024; 7:320. [PMID: 38480979 PMCID: PMC10937669 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05970-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Fragment screening is used to identify binding sites and leads in drug discovery, but it is often unclear which binding sites are functionally important. Here, data from 37 experiments, and 1309 protein structures binding to 1601 ligands were analysed. A method to group ligands by binding sites is introduced and sites clustered according to profiles of relative solvent accessibility. This identified 293 unique ligand binding sites, grouped into four clusters (C1-4). C1 includes larger, buried, conserved, and population missense-depleted sites, enriched in known functional sites. C4 comprises smaller, accessible, divergent, missense-enriched sites, depleted in functional sites. A site in C1 is 28 times more likely to be functional than one in C4. Seventeen sites, which to the best of our knowledge are novel, in 13 proteins are identified as likely to be functionally important with examples from human tenascin and 5-aminolevulinate synthase highlighted. A multi-layer perceptron, and K-nearest neighbours model are presented to predict cluster labels for ligand binding sites with an accuracy of 96% and 100%, respectively, so allowing functional classification of sites for proteins not in this set. Our findings will be of interest to those studying protein-ligand interactions and developing new drugs or function modulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier S Utgés
- Division of Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK
| | - Stuart A MacGowan
- Division of Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK
| | - Callum M Ives
- Division of Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
| | - Geoffrey J Barton
- Division of Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK.
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24
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Claussen ER, Renfrew PD, Müller CL, Drew K. Scaffold Matcher: A CMA-ES based algorithm for identifying hotspot aligned peptidomimetic scaffolds. Proteins 2024; 92:343-355. [PMID: 37874196 PMCID: PMC10873094 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26619] [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: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
The design of protein interaction inhibitors is a promising approach to address aberrant protein interactions that cause disease. One strategy in designing inhibitors is to use peptidomimetic scaffolds that mimic the natural interaction interface. A central challenge in using peptidomimetics as protein interaction inhibitors, however, is determining how best the molecular scaffold aligns to the residues of the interface it is attempting to mimic. Here we present the Scaffold Matcher algorithm that aligns a given molecular scaffold onto hotspot residues from a protein interaction interface. To optimize the degrees of freedom of the molecular scaffold we implement the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES), a state-of-the-art derivative-free optimization algorithm in Rosetta. To evaluate the performance of the CMA-ES, we used 26 peptides from the FlexPepDock Benchmark and compared with three other algorithms in Rosetta, specifically, Rosetta's default minimizer, a Monte Carlo protocol of small backbone perturbations, and a Genetic algorithm. We test the algorithms' performance on their ability to align a molecular scaffold to a series of hotspot residues (i.e., constraints) along native peptides. Of the 4 methods, CMA-ES was able to find the lowest energy conformation for all 26 benchmark peptides. Additionally, as a proof of concept, we apply the Scaffold Match algorithm with CMA-ES to align a peptidomimetic oligooxopiperazine scaffold to the hotspot residues of the substrate of the main protease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Our implementation of CMA-ES into Rosetta allows for an alternative optimization method to be used on macromolecular modeling problems with rough energy landscapes. Finally, our Scaffold Matcher algorithm allows for the identification of initial conformations of interaction inhibitors that can be further designed and optimized as high-affinity reagents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin R. Claussen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois
at Chicago, Chicago, Il, 60607, USA
| | - P. Douglas Renfrew
- Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute, New
York, NY, 10010, USA
| | - Christian L. Müller
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- Helmholtz Munich, München
- Center for Computational Mathematics, Flatiron Institute,
New York
| | - Kevin Drew
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois
at Chicago, Chicago, Il, 60607, USA
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25
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Moreira Costa MA, de Sousa NF, Mansur Pontes CL, Scotti MT, de Assis FF, Braga AL, Sandjo LP. Inhibitory effects against SARSCoV-2 main protease (M pro) of biflavonoids and benzophenones from the fruit of Platonia insignis. Fitoterapia 2024; 173:105784. [PMID: 38128621 DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2023.105784] [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: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 mutation and the limitation of the approved drug against COVID-19 are still a challenge in many country healthcare systems and need to be affronted despite the set of vaccines to prevent this viral infection. To contribute to the identification of new antiviral agents, the present study focused on natural products from an edible fruit with potential inhibitory effects against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). First, LC-ESIMS analysis of Platonia insignis fruits was performed and showed the presence of biflavonoids and benzophenones in the seed and pulp, respectively. Then, maceration and chromatographic purification led to the identification of two triglycerides (1 and 2) alongside chamaejasmine (3) and volkensiflavone (4) from the seed and isogarcinol (5) and cycloxanthochymol (6), from the pulp. Compounds 1-6 after evaluating their inhibitory against Mpro, displayed from no to significant activity. Compound 5 was the most potent with an IC50 value of 0.72 μM and was more active than the positive control, Ebselen (IC50 of 3.4 μM). It displayed weak and no cytotoxicity against THP-1 (CC50 of 116.2 μM) and Vero cell lines, respectively. Other active compounds showed no cytotoxicity against THP-1. and Vero cell lines. Molecular docking studies revealed interactions in the catalytic pocket between compound 5 and amino acid residues that composed the catalytic dyads (His 41 and Cyst 145).
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Affiliation(s)
- Monalisa A Moreira Costa
- Department of Chemistry, CFM, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário-Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil
| | - Natália F de Sousa
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Exact and Natural Sciences, Universidade Federal de Paraíba, Campus I, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
| | - Carime L Mansur Pontes
- Department of Chemistry, CFM, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário-Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil
| | - Marcus T Scotti
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Exact and Natural Sciences, Universidade Federal de Paraíba, Campus I, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
| | - Francisco F de Assis
- Department of Chemistry, CFM, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário-Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil
| | - Antonio L Braga
- Department of Chemistry, CFM, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário-Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil
| | - Louis P Sandjo
- Department of Chemistry, CFM, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário-Trindade, Florianópolis 88040-900, SC, Brazil.
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26
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Borges PHO, Ferreira SB, Silva FP. Recent Advances on Targeting Proteases for Antiviral Development. Viruses 2024; 16:366. [PMID: 38543732 PMCID: PMC10976044 DOI: 10.3390/v16030366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Viral proteases are an important target for drug development, since they can modulate vital pathways in viral replication, maturation, assembly and cell entry. With the (re)appearance of several new viruses responsible for causing diseases in humans, like the West Nile virus (WNV) and the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), understanding the mechanisms behind blocking viral protease's function is pivotal for the development of new antiviral drugs and therapeutical strategies. Apart from directly inhibiting the target protease, usually by targeting its active site, several new pathways have been explored to impair its activity, such as inducing protein aggregation, targeting allosteric sites or by inducing protein degradation by cellular proteasomes, which can be extremely valuable when considering the emerging drug-resistant strains. In this review, we aim to discuss the recent advances on a broad range of viral proteases inhibitors, therapies and molecular approaches for protein inactivation or degradation, giving an insight on different possible strategies against this important class of antiviral target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Henrique Oliveira Borges
- Laboratory of Organic Synthesis and Biological Prospecting, Chemistry Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil;
- Laboratory of Experimental and Computational Biochemistry of Drugs, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
| | - Sabrina Baptista Ferreira
- Laboratory of Organic Synthesis and Biological Prospecting, Chemistry Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil;
| | - Floriano Paes Silva
- Laboratory of Experimental and Computational Biochemistry of Drugs, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, Brazil
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27
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Altincekic N, Jores N, Löhr F, Richter C, Ehrhardt C, Blommers MJJ, Berg H, Öztürk S, Gande SL, Linhard V, Orts J, Abi Saad MJ, Bütikofer M, Kaderli J, Karlsson BG, Brath U, Hedenström M, Gröbner G, Sauer UH, Perrakis A, Langer J, Banci L, Cantini F, Fragai M, Grifagni D, Barthel T, Wollenhaupt J, Weiss MS, Robertson A, Bax A, Sreeramulu S, Schwalbe H. Targeting the Main Protease (M pro, nsp5) by Growth of Fragment Scaffolds Exploiting Structure-Based Methodologies. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:563-574. [PMID: 38232960 PMCID: PMC10877576 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00720] [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: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
The main protease Mpro, nsp5, of SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV2) is one of its most attractive drug targets. Here, we report primary screening data using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) of four different libraries and detailed follow-up synthesis on the promising uracil-containing fragment Z604 derived from these libraries. Z604 shows time-dependent binding. Its inhibitory effect is sensitive to reducing conditions. Starting with Z604, we synthesized and characterized 13 compounds designed by fragment growth strategies. Each compound was characterized by NMR and/or activity assays to investigate their interaction with Mpro. These investigations resulted in the four-armed compound 35b that binds directly to Mpro. 35b could be cocrystallized with Mpro revealing its noncovalent binding mode, which fills all four active site subpockets. Herein, we describe the NMR-derived fragment-to-hit pipeline and its application for the development of promising starting points for inhibitors of the main protease of SCoV2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadide Altincekic
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Nathalie Jores
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Frank Löhr
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Institute
of Biophysical Chemistry, Goethe University
Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Christian Richter
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Claus Ehrhardt
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Hannes Berg
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Sare Öztürk
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Santosh L. Gande
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Verena Linhard
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Julien Orts
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of
Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Marie Jose Abi Saad
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of
Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Matthias Bütikofer
- Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Janina Kaderli
- Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - B. Göran Karlsson
- Swedish
NMR Centre, Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, SE40530 Göteborg, Sweden
- SciLifeLab, University of Gothenburg, SE40530 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Ulrika Brath
- Swedish
NMR Centre, Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, SE40530 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Mattias Hedenström
- Swedish
NMR Centre, Department of Chemistry, University
of Umeå, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Gerhard Gröbner
- Swedish
NMR Centre, Department of Chemistry, University
of Umeå, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Uwe H. Sauer
- Protein
Production Sweden, Department of Chemistry, University of Umeå, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Anastassis Perrakis
- Oncode
Institute and Division of Biochemistry, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Julian Langer
- Max Planck Institute of
Biophysics, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Lucia Banci
- Magnetic
Resonance Center and Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- Consorzio
Interuniversitario Risonanze Magnetiche Metalloproteine, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Francesca Cantini
- Magnetic
Resonance Center and Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- Consorzio
Interuniversitario Risonanze Magnetiche Metalloproteine, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Marco Fragai
- Magnetic
Resonance Center and Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- Consorzio
Interuniversitario Risonanze Magnetiche Metalloproteine, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Deborah Grifagni
- Magnetic
Resonance Center and Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Tatjana Barthel
- Macromolecular
Crystallography, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jan Wollenhaupt
- Macromolecular
Crystallography, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Manfred S. Weiss
- Macromolecular
Crystallography, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Adriaan Bax
- NIH, LCP NIDDK, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
| | - Sridhar Sreeramulu
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Harald Schwalbe
- Institute
for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
- Center
of Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, D-60438 Frankfurt, Germany
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28
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Giri-Rachman EA, Effendy VV, Azmi MHS, Yamahoki N, Stephanie R, Agustiyanti DF, Wisnuwardhani PH, Angelina M, Rubiyana Y, Aditama R, Ningrum RA, Wardiana A, Fibriani A. The SARS-CoV-2 M pro Dimer-Based Screening System: A Synthetic Biology Tool for Identifying Compounds with Dimerization Inhibitory Potential. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:509-520. [PMID: 38316139 PMCID: PMC10877612 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00446] [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: 07/23/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
The COVID-19 endemic remains a global concern. The search for effective antiviral candidates is still needed to reduce disease risk. However, the availability of high biosafety level laboratory facilities for drug screening is limited in number. To address this issue, a screening system that could be utilized at lower biosafety levels remains essential. This study aimed to develop a novel SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) dimer-based screening system (DBSS) utilizing synthetic biology in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). We linked the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro with the DNA-binding domain of AraC regulatory protein, which regulates the reporter gene expression. Protein modeling and molecular docking showed that saquinavir could bind to AraC-Mpro both in its monomer and dimer forms. The constructed DBSS assay indicated the screening system could detect saquinavir inhibitory activity at a concentration range of 4-10 μg/mL compared to the untreated control (P ≤ 0.05). The Vero E6 cell assay validated the DBSS result that saquinavir at 4-10 μg/mL exhibited antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. Our DBSS could be used for preliminary screening of numerous drug candidates that possess a dimerization inhibitor activity of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and also minimize the use of a high biosafety level laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Vergio V. Effendy
- School
of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
| | - Muhammad H. S. Azmi
- School
of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
| | - Nicholas Yamahoki
- School
of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
| | - Rebecca Stephanie
- School
of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
| | - Dian F. Agustiyanti
- Research
Center for Genetic Engineering, Indonesian
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
| | - Popi H. Wisnuwardhani
- Research
Center for Genetic Engineering, Indonesian
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
| | - Marissa Angelina
- Research
Center for Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Traditional Medicine, Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency
(BRIN), Serpong 15314, Indonesia
| | - Yana Rubiyana
- Research
Center for Genetic Engineering, Indonesian
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
| | - Reza Aditama
- Biochemistry
Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
| | - Ratih A. Ningrum
- Research
Center for Genetic Engineering, Indonesian
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
| | - Andri Wardiana
- Research
Center for Genetic Engineering, Indonesian
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
| | - Azzania Fibriani
- School
of Life Sciences and Technology, Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
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29
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Huang CY, Metz A, Lange R, Artico N, Potot C, Hazemann J, Müller M, Dos Santos M, Chambovey A, Ritz D, Eris D, Meyer S, Bourquin G, Sharpe M, Mac Sweeney A. Fragment-based screening targeting an open form of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease binding pocket. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2024; 80:123-136. [PMID: 38289714 PMCID: PMC10836397 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798324000329] [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: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
To identify starting points for therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2, the Paul Scherrer Institute and Idorsia decided to collaboratively perform an X-ray crystallographic fragment screen against its main protease. Fragment-based screening was carried out using crystals with a pronounced open conformation of the substrate-binding pocket. Of 631 soaked fragments, a total of 29 hits bound either in the active site (24 hits), a remote binding pocket (three hits) or at crystal-packing interfaces (two hits). Notably, two fragments with a pose that was sterically incompatible with a more occluded crystal form were identified. Two isatin-based electrophilic fragments bound covalently to the catalytic cysteine residue. The structures also revealed a surprisingly strong influence of the crystal form on the binding pose of three published fragments used as positive controls, with implications for fragment screening by crystallography.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia Ying Huang
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Metz
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Roland Lange
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Nadia Artico
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Céline Potot
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | | | - Manon Müller
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Daniel Ritz
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Deniz Eris
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Solange Meyer
- Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | | | - May Sharpe
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
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30
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Sulimov AV, Ilin IS, Tashchilova AS, Kondakova OA, Kutov DC, Sulimov VB. Docking and other computing tools in drug design against SARS-CoV-2. SAR AND QSAR IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 35:91-136. [PMID: 38353209 DOI: 10.1080/1062936x.2024.2306336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The use of computer simulation methods has become an indispensable component in identifying drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. There is a huge body of literature on application of molecular modelling to predict inhibitors against target proteins of SARS-CoV-2. To keep our review clear and readable, we limited ourselves primarily to works that use computational methods to find inhibitors and test the predicted compounds experimentally either in target protein assays or in cell culture with live SARS-CoV-2. Some works containing results of experimental discovery of corresponding inhibitors without using computer modelling are included as examples of a success. Also, some computational works without experimental confirmations are also included if they attract our attention either by simulation methods or by databases used. This review collects studies that use various molecular modelling methods: docking, molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics, machine learning, and others. Most of these studies are based on docking, and other methods are used mainly for post-processing to select the best compounds among those found through docking. Simulation methods are presented concisely, information is also provided on databases of organic compounds that can be useful for virtual screening, and the review itself is structured in accordance with coronavirus target proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- A V Sulimov
- Dimonta Ltd., Moscow, Russia
- Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - I S Ilin
- Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - A S Tashchilova
- Dimonta Ltd., Moscow, Russia
- Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - O A Kondakova
- Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - D C Kutov
- Dimonta Ltd., Moscow, Russia
- Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - V B Sulimov
- Dimonta Ltd., Moscow, Russia
- Research Computing Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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Algaissi A, Khan E, Tabassum H, Samreen S, Khamjan NA, Lohani M, Khan S, Kameli N, Madkhali F, Ahmad IZ. Campesterol and dithymoquinone as a potent inhibitors of SARS cov-2 main proteases-promising drug candidates for targeting its novel variants. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024:1-15. [PMID: 38288958 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2301684] [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: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has currently taken approximately 2.4 million lives, with no specific medication and fast-tracked tested vaccines for prevention. These vaccines have their own adverse effects, which have severely affected the global healthcare system. The discovery of the main protease structure of coronavirus (Mpro/Clpro) has resulted in the identification of compounds having antiviral potential, especially from the herbal system. In this study, the computer-associated drug design tools were utilised to analyze the reported phytoconstituents of Nigella sativa for their antiviral activity against the main protease. Fifty-eight compounds were subjected to pharmacological parameter analysis to determine their lead likeness in comparison to the standard drugs (chloroquine and nirmatrelvir) used in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Nearly 31 compounds were docked against five different SARS-CoV-2 main proteases, and all compounds showed better binding affinity and inhibition constant against the proteases. However, dithymoquinone and campesterol displayed the best binding scores and hence were further subjected to dynamics and MMPBSA study for 100 ns. The stability analysis shows that dithymoquinone and campesterol show less variation in fluctuation in residues compared to standard complexes. Moreover, dithymoquinone exhibited higher binding affinity and favorable interaction followed by campesterol as compared to the standard drug. The in silico computational analysis provides a promising hit for regulating the main proteases activity.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdullah Algaissi
- Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
- Emerging and Epidemic Infectious Diseases Research Unit, Medical Research Center, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
| | - Elhan Khan
- Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, Integral University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Heena Tabassum
- Dr. D. Y. Patil Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institute, Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Sadiyah Samreen
- Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, Integral University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Nizar A Khamjan
- Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohtashim Lohani
- Medical Research Centre, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saif Khan
- Department of Basic Dental and Medical Sciences, College of Dentistry, Ha'il University, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nader Kameli
- Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
| | - Faisal Madkhali
- Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
| | - Iffat Zareen Ahmad
- Natural Products Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering, Integral University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
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32
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Hymon D, Martins J, Richter C, Sreeramulu S, Wacker A, Ferner J, Patwardhan NN, Hargrove AE, Schwalbe H. NMR 1H, 19F-based screening of the four stem-looped structure 5_SL1-SL4 located in the 5'-untranslated region of SARS-CoV 2 RNA. RSC Med Chem 2024; 15:165-177. [PMID: 38283228 PMCID: PMC10809358 DOI: 10.1039/d3md00322a] [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: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Development of new antiviral medication against the beta-coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (SCoV2) is actively being pursued. Both NMR spectroscopy and crystallography as structural screening technologies have been utilised to screen the viral proteome for binding to fragment libraries. Here, we report on NMR screening of elements of the viral RNA genome with two different ligand libraries using 1H-NMR-screening experiments and 1H and 19F NMR-screening experiments for fluorinated compounds. We screened against the 5'-terminal 119 nucleotides located in the 5'-untranslated region of the RNA genome of SCoV2 and further dissected the four stem-loops into its constituent RNA elements to test specificity of binding of ligands to shorter and longer viral RNA stretches. The first library (DRTL-F library) is enriched in ligands binding to RNA motifs, while the second library (DSI-poised library) represents a fragment library originally designed for protein screening. Conducting screens with two different libraries allows us to compare different NMR screening methodologies, describe NMR screening workflows, validate the two different fragment libraries, and derive initial leads for further downstream medicinal chemistry optimisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Hymon
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
| | - Jason Martins
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
| | - Christian Richter
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
| | - Sridhar Sreeramulu
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
| | - Anna Wacker
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
| | - Jan Ferner
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
| | | | - Amanda E Hargrove
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University Durham North Carolina 27708 USA
| | - Harald Schwalbe
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), Goethe-University Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Str. 7 60438 Frankfurt/Main Germany
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33
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Janin YL. On the origins of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors. RSC Med Chem 2024; 15:81-118. [PMID: 38283212 PMCID: PMC10809347 DOI: 10.1039/d3md00493g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024] Open
Abstract
In order to address the world-wide health challenge caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 3CL protease/SARS-CoV-2 main protease (SARS-CoV-2-Mpro) coded by its nsp5 gene became one of the biochemical targets for the design of antiviral drugs. In less than 3 years of research, 4 inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2-Mpro have actually been authorized for COVID-19 treatment (nirmatrelvir, ensitrelvir, leritrelvir and simnotrelvir) and more such as EDP-235, FB-2001 and STI-1558/Olgotrelvir or five undisclosed compounds (CDI-988, ASC11, ALG-097558, QLS1128 and H-10517) are undergoing clinical trials. This review is an attempt to picture this quite unprecedented medicinal chemistry feat and provide insights on how these cysteine protease inhibitors were discovered. Since many series of covalent SARS-CoV-2-Mpro inhibitors owe some of their origins to previous work on other proteases, we first provided a description of various inhibitors of cysteine-bearing human caspase-1 or cathepsin K, as well as inhibitors of serine proteases such as human dipeptidyl peptidase-4 or the hepatitis C protein complex NS3/4A. This is then followed by a description of the results of the approaches adopted (repurposing, structure-based and high throughput screening) to discover coronavirus main protease inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yves L Janin
- Structure et Instabilité des Génomes (StrInG), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, INSERM, CNRS, Alliance Sorbonne Université 75005 Paris France
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34
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Keeley A, Kopranovic A, Di Lorenzo V, Ábrányi-Balogh P, Jänsch N, Lai LN, Petri L, Orgován Z, Pölöske D, Orlova A, Németh A, Desczyk C, Imre T, Bajusz D, Moriggl R, Meyer-Almes FJ, Keserü GM. Electrophilic MiniFrags Revealed Unprecedented Binding Sites for Covalent HDAC8 Inhibitors. J Med Chem 2024; 67:572-585. [PMID: 38113354 PMCID: PMC10788917 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01779] [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: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Screening of ultra-low-molecular weight ligands (MiniFrags) successfully identified viable chemical starting points for a variety of drug targets. Here we report the electrophilic analogues of MiniFrags that allow the mapping of potential binding sites for covalent inhibitors by biochemical screening and mass spectrometry. Small electrophilic heterocycles and their N-quaternized analogues were first characterized in the glutathione assay to analyze their electrophilic reactivity. Next, the library was used for systematic mapping of potential covalent binding sites available in human histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8). The covalent labeling of HDAC8 cysteines has been proven by tandem mass spectrometry measurements, and the observations were explained by mutating HDAC8 cysteines. As a result, screening of electrophilic MiniFrags identified three potential binding sites suitable for the development of allosteric covalent HDAC8 inhibitors. One of the hit fragments was merged with a known HDAC8 inhibitor fragment using different linkers, and the linker length was optimized to result in a lead-like covalent inhibitor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron
B. Keeley
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Aleksandra Kopranovic
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Haardtring 100, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Vincenzo Di Lorenzo
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Péter Ábrányi-Balogh
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Niklas Jänsch
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Haardtring 100, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Linh N. Lai
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Haardtring 100, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - László Petri
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Orgován
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Daniel Pölöske
- Institute
of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University
of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Anna Orlova
- Institute
of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University
of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - András
György Németh
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Charlotte Desczyk
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Haardtring 100, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Tímea Imre
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- MS
Metabolomics
Research Group, Research Centre for Natural
Sciences, Magyar tudósok
krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dávid Bajusz
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Richard Moriggl
- Institute
of Animal Breeding and Genetics, University
of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Franz-Josef Meyer-Almes
- Department
of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Haardtring 100, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - György M. Keserü
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre
for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, Müegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
- National
Laboratory for Drug Research and Development, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
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35
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Funk LM, Poschmann G, Rabe von Pappenheim F, Chari A, Stegmann KM, Dickmanns A, Wensien M, Eulig N, Paknia E, Heyne G, Penka E, Pearson AR, Berndt C, Fritz T, Bazzi S, Uranga J, Mata RA, Dobbelstein M, Hilgenfeld R, Curth U, Tittmann K. Multiple redox switches of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease in vitro provide opportunities for drug design. Nat Commun 2024; 15:411. [PMID: 38195625 PMCID: PMC10776599 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44621-0] [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: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Besides vaccines, the development of antiviral drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 is critical for preventing future COVID outbreaks. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), a cysteine protease with essential functions in viral replication, has been validated as an effective drug target. Here, we show that Mpro is subject to redox regulation in vitro and reversibly switches between the enzymatically active dimer and the functionally dormant monomer through redox modifications of cysteine residues. These include a disulfide-dithiol switch between the catalytic cysteine C145 and cysteine C117, and generation of an allosteric cysteine-lysine-cysteine SONOS bridge that is required for structural stability under oxidative stress conditions, such as those exerted by the innate immune system. We identify homo- and heterobifunctional reagents that mimic the redox switching and inhibit Mpro activity. The discovered redox switches are conserved in main proteases from other coronaviruses, e.g. MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, indicating their potential as common druggable sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa-Marie Funk
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Göttingen Center of Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Gereon Poschmann
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, Proteome Research, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Fabian Rabe von Pappenheim
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Göttingen Center of Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ashwin Chari
- Department of Structural Dynamics, Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Kim M Stegmann
- Institute of Molecular Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Antje Dickmanns
- Institute of Molecular Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Marie Wensien
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Göttingen Center of Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Nora Eulig
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Göttingen Center of Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Elham Paknia
- Department of Structural Dynamics, Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Gabi Heyne
- Department of Structural Dynamics, Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Elke Penka
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Göttingen Center of Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Arwen R Pearson
- Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging, Hamburg University, HARBOR, Luruper Chaussee 149, Hamburg, 22761, Germany
| | - Carsten Berndt
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Tobias Fritz
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Georg-August University Göttingen, Tammannstraße 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sophia Bazzi
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Georg-August University Göttingen, Tammannstraße 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Jon Uranga
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Georg-August University Göttingen, Tammannstraße 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ricardo A Mata
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Georg-August University Göttingen, Tammannstraße 6, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Matthias Dobbelstein
- Institute of Molecular Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Rolf Hilgenfeld
- Institute for Biochemistry, Lübeck University, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research, Hamburg - Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Site, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562, Lübeck, Germany
| | - Ute Curth
- Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany
| | - Kai Tittmann
- Department of Molecular Enzymology, Göttingen Center of Molecular Biosciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Julia-Lermontowa-Weg 3, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany.
- Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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36
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Mehlman T(S, Ginn HM, Keedy DA. An expanded view of ligandability in the allosteric enzyme PTP1B from computational reanalysis of large-scale crystallographic data. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.05.574428. [PMID: 38260327 PMCID: PMC10802458 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.05.574428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
The recent advent of crystallographic small-molecule fragment screening presents the opportunity to obtain unprecedented numbers of ligand-bound protein crystal structures from a single high-throughput experiment, mapping ligandability across protein surfaces and identifying useful chemical footholds for structure-based drug design. However, due to the low binding affinities of most fragments, detecting bound fragments from crystallographic datasets has been a challenge. Here we report a trove of 65 new fragment hits across 59 new liganded crystal structures for PTP1B, an "undruggable" therapeutic target enzyme for diabetes and cancer. These structures were obtained from computational analysis of data from a large crystallographic screen, demonstrating the power of this approach to elucidate many (~50% more) "hidden" ligand-bound states of proteins. Our new structures include a fragment hit found in a novel binding site in PTP1B with a unique location relative to the active site, one that validates another new binding site recently identified by simulations, one that links adjacent allosteric sites, and, perhaps most strikingly, a fragment that induces long-range allosteric protein conformational responses via a previously unreported intramolecular conduit. Altogether, our research highlights the utility of computational analysis of crystallographic data, makes publicly available dozens of new ligand-bound structures of a high-value drug target, and identifies novel aspects of ligandability and allostery in PTP1B.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar (Skaist) Mehlman
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031
- PhD Program in Biochemistry, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY 10016
| | - Helen M. Ginn
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute for Nanostructure and Solid State Physics, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Division of Life Sciences, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
| | - Daniel A. Keedy
- Structural Biology Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, New York, NY 10031
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031
- PhD Programs in Biochemistry, Biology, & Chemistry, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY 10016
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37
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Lee H, Lee JY, Jang H, Cho HY, Kang M, Bae SH, Kim S, Kim E, Jang J, Kim JY, Jeon YH. Discovery of proteolysis-targeting chimera targeting undruggable proteins using a covalent ligand screening approach. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 263:115929. [PMID: 37956552 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115929] [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: 07/22/2023] [Revised: 10/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology, such as proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC), has become a new therapeutic modality. However, the degradation of undruggable proteins, such as those involved in protein-protein interactions (PPIs), using PROTAC is still limited owing to the difficulties in finding small-molecule binders of these proteins. To identify new chemical moieties that bind to the target sites of the protein of interest (POI), we conducted a site-specific and fragment-based covalent ligand screening using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). To apply the selected hits to the PROTAC approach, two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments were performed to evaluate the reversible binding of their analogs without covalent warheads. To proof the proposed approach, human mouse double minute (MDM)2 was selected as a model system since it is involved in PPIs and is known to be a degradable target protein. Western blot analysis showed that newly synthesized PROTACs, incorporated reversible analogs of screening hits, affected degradation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This methodology makes it possible to use PROTAC technology to exploit previously undruggable proteins for TPD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeonjun Lee
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea
| | - Ju Yeon Lee
- Research Center for Bioconvergence Analysis, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju, 28119, South Korea
| | - Hyunsoo Jang
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea
| | - Hye Young Cho
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea
| | - Minhee Kang
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea
| | - Sang Hyun Bae
- Research Center for Bioconvergence Analysis, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju, 28119, South Korea
| | - Suin Kim
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea
| | - Eunji Kim
- Azcuris, Co., Ltd., 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea
| | - Jaebong Jang
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea.
| | - Jin Young Kim
- Research Center for Bioconvergence Analysis, Korea Basic Science Institute, Cheongju, 28119, South Korea.
| | - Young Ho Jeon
- College of Pharmacy, Korea University, 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea; Azcuris, Co., Ltd., 2511 Sejong-ro, Sejong, 30019, South Korea.
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38
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Mihalovits LM, Kollár L, Bajusz D, Knez D, Bozovičar K, Imre T, Ferenczy GG, Gobec S, Keserű GM. Molecular Mechanism of Labelling Functional Cysteines by Heterocyclic Thiones. Chemphyschem 2024; 25:e202300596. [PMID: 37888491 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202300596] [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: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Heterocyclic thiones have recently been identified as reversible covalent warheads, consistent with their mild electrophilic nature. Little is known so far about their mechanism of action in labelling nucleophilic sidechains, especially cysteines. The vast number of tractable cysteines promotes a wide range of target proteins to examine; however, our focus was put on functional cysteines. We chose the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 harboring Cys145 at the active site that is a structurally characterized and clinically validated target of covalent inhibitors. We screened an in-house, cysteine-targeting covalent inhibitor library which resulted in several covalent fragment hits with benzoxazole, benzothiazole and benzimidazole cores. Thione derivatives and Michael acceptors were selected for further investigations with the objective of exploring the mechanism of inhibition of the thiones and using the thoroughly characterized Michael acceptors for benchmarking our studies. Classical and hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations were carried out that revealed a new mechanism of covalent cysteine labelling by thione derivatives, which was supported by QM and free energy calculations and by a wide range of experimental results. Our study shows that the molecular recognition step plays a crucial role in the overall binding of both sets of molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Levente M Mihalovits
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Levente Kollár
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., 1111, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dávid Bajusz
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Damijan Knez
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Krištof Bozovičar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tímea Imre
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- MS Metabolomics Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - György G Ferenczy
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Stanislav Gobec
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - György M Keserű
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., 1111, Budapest, Hungary
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39
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Song L, Gao S, Ye B, Yang M, Cheng Y, Kang D, Yi F, Sun JP, Menéndez-Arias L, Neyts J, Liu X, Zhan P. Medicinal chemistry strategies towards the development of non-covalent SARS-CoV-2 M pro inhibitors. Acta Pharm Sin B 2024; 14:87-109. [PMID: 38239241 PMCID: PMC10792984 DOI: 10.1016/j.apsb.2023.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is an attractive target in anti-COVID-19 therapy for its high conservation and major role in the virus life cycle. The covalent Mpro inhibitor nirmatrelvir (in combination with ritonavir, a pharmacokinetic enhancer) and the non-covalent inhibitor ensitrelvir have shown efficacy in clinical trials and have been approved for therapeutic use. Effective antiviral drugs are needed to fight the pandemic, while non-covalent Mpro inhibitors could be promising alternatives due to their high selectivity and favorable druggability. Numerous non-covalent Mpro inhibitors with desirable properties have been developed based on available crystal structures of Mpro. In this article, we describe medicinal chemistry strategies applied for the discovery and optimization of non-covalent Mpro inhibitors, followed by a general overview and critical analysis of the available information. Prospective viewpoints and insights into current strategies for the development of non-covalent Mpro inhibitors are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letian Song
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Shenghua Gao
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Shandong University, Shenzhen 518057, China
| | - Bing Ye
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Mianling Yang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Yusen Cheng
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Dongwei Kang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Fan Yi
- The Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity of Shandong Province, Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Jin-Peng Sun
- Key Laboratory Experimental Teratology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Luis Menéndez-Arias
- Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas & Autonomous University of Madrid), Madrid 28049, Spain
| | - Johan Neyts
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Leuven 3000, Belgium
| | - Xinyong Liu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Peng Zhan
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
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40
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Schimunek J, Seidl P, Elez K, Hempel T, Le T, Noé F, Olsson S, Raich L, Winter R, Gokcan H, Gusev F, Gutkin EM, Isayev O, Kurnikova MG, Narangoda CH, Zubatyuk R, Bosko IP, Furs KV, Karpenko AD, Kornoushenko YV, Shuldau M, Yushkevich A, Benabderrahmane MB, Bousquet-Melou P, Bureau R, Charton B, Cirou BC, Gil G, Allen WJ, Sirimulla S, Watowich S, Antonopoulos N, Epitropakis N, Krasoulis A, Itsikalis V, Theodorakis S, Kozlovskii I, Maliutin A, Medvedev A, Popov P, Zaretckii M, Eghbal-Zadeh H, Halmich C, Hochreiter S, Mayr A, Ruch P, Widrich M, Berenger F, Kumar A, Yamanishi Y, Zhang KYJ, Bengio E, Bengio Y, Jain MJ, Korablyov M, Liu CH, Marcou G, Glaab E, Barnsley K, Iyengar SM, Ondrechen MJ, Haupt VJ, Kaiser F, Schroeder M, Pugliese L, Albani S, Athanasiou C, Beccari A, Carloni P, D'Arrigo G, Gianquinto E, Goßen J, Hanke A, Joseph BP, Kokh DB, Kovachka S, Manelfi C, Mukherjee G, Muñiz-Chicharro A, Musiani F, Nunes-Alves A, Paiardi G, Rossetti G, Sadiq SK, Spyrakis F, Talarico C, Tsengenes A, Wade RC, Copeland C, Gaiser J, Olson DR, Roy A, Venkatraman V, Wheeler TJ, Arthanari H, Blaschitz K, Cespugli M, Durmaz V, Fackeldey K, Fischer PD, Gorgulla C, Gruber C, Gruber K, Hetmann M, Kinney JE, Padmanabha Das KM, Pandita S, Singh A, Steinkellner G, Tesseyre G, Wagner G, Wang ZF, Yust RJ, Druzhilovskiy DS, Filimonov DA, Pogodin PV, Poroikov V, Rudik AV, Stolbov LA, Veselovsky AV, De Rosa M, De Simone G, Gulotta MR, Lombino J, Mekni N, Perricone U, Casini A, Embree A, Gordon DB, Lei D, Pratt K, Voigt CA, Chen KY, Jacob Y, Krischuns T, Lafaye P, Zettor A, Rodríguez ML, White KM, Fearon D, Von Delft F, Walsh MA, Horvath D, Brooks CL, Falsafi B, Ford B, García-Sastre A, Yup Lee S, Naffakh N, Varnek A, Klambauer G, Hermans TM. A community effort in SARS-CoV-2 drug discovery. Mol Inform 2024; 43:e202300262. [PMID: 37833243 PMCID: PMC11299051 DOI: 10.1002/minf.202300262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a substantial threat to human lives and is likely to do so for years to come. Despite the availability of vaccines, searching for efficient small-molecule drugs that are widely available, including in low- and middle-income countries, is an ongoing challenge. In this work, we report the results of an open science community effort, the "Billion molecules against COVID-19 challenge", to identify small-molecule inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 or relevant human receptors. Participating teams used a wide variety of computational methods to screen a minimum of 1 billion virtual molecules against 6 protein targets. Overall, 31 teams participated, and they suggested a total of 639,024 molecules, which were subsequently ranked to find 'consensus compounds'. The organizing team coordinated with various contract research organizations (CROs) and collaborating institutions to synthesize and test 878 compounds for biological activity against proteases (Nsp5, Nsp3, TMPRSS2), nucleocapsid N, RdRP (only the Nsp12 domain), and (alpha) spike protein S. Overall, 27 compounds with weak inhibition/binding were experimentally identified by binding-, cleavage-, and/or viral suppression assays and are presented here. Open science approaches such as the one presented here contribute to the knowledge base of future drug discovery efforts in finding better SARS-CoV-2 treatments.
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41
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Dugelay C, Gueguen-Chaignon V, Terradot L. Structural Analyses of Bacterial Effectors by X-Ray Crystallography. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2715:485-502. [PMID: 37930546 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3445-5_29] [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] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
X-ray crystallography is a method of choice to determine and analyze protein structures. Although large complexes are challenging to crystallize and cryo-electron microscopy is thus better suited for these, crystallography can still be efficient in solving structures of single components of secretion systems or effectors. Many of the different steps leading to structure determination by X-ray crystallography have been automatized. Here, we describe a generic approach to obtain crystals, solve the structure of a given protein, and perform a preliminary analysis, highlighting novel and efficient possibilities offered by automatization and contribution of Alpha Fold 2 structure prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloé Dugelay
- Microbiologie Moléculaire et Biochimie Structurale (MMSB), Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR5086, Lyon, France
| | - Virginie Gueguen-Chaignon
- Protein Science Facility, SFR Biosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UAR3444, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Laurent Terradot
- Microbiologie Moléculaire et Biochimie Structurale (MMSB), Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR5086, Lyon, France.
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42
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Goullieux M, Zoete V, Röhrig UF. Two-Step Covalent Docking with Attracting Cavities. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:7847-7859. [PMID: 38049143 PMCID: PMC10751798 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01055] [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: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023]
Abstract
Due to their various advantages, interest in the development of covalent drugs has been renewed in the past few years. It is therefore important to accurately describe and predict their interactions with biological targets by computer-aided drug design tools such as docking algorithms. Here, we report a covalent docking procedure for our in-house docking code Attracting Cavities (AC), which mimics the two-step mechanism of covalent ligand binding. Ligand binding to the protein cavity is driven by nonbonded interactions, followed by the formation of a covalent bond between the ligand and the protein through a chemical reaction. To test the performance of this method, we developed a diverse, high-quality, openly accessible re-docking benchmark set of 95 covalent complexes bound by 8 chemical reactions to 5 different reactive amino acids. Combination with structures from previous studies resulted in a set of 304 complexes, on which AC obtained a success rate (rmsd ≤ 2 Å) of 78%, outperforming two state-of-the-art covalent docking codes, genetic optimization for ligand docking (GOLD (66%)) and AutoDock (AD (35%)). Using a more stringent success criterion (rmsd ≤ 1.5 Å), AC reached a success rate of 71 vs 55% for GOLD and 26% for AD. We additionally assessed the cross-docking performance of AC on a set of 76 covalent complexes of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. On this challenging test set of mainly small and highly solvent-exposed ligands, AC yielded success rates of 58 and 28% for re-docking and cross-docking, respectively, compared to 45 and 17% for GOLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Goullieux
- SIB
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Molecular Modeling Group, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vincent Zoete
- SIB
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Molecular Modeling Group, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department
of Oncology UNIL-CHUV, Lausanne University, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Lausanne Branch, CH-1066 Epalinges, Switzerland
| | - Ute F. Röhrig
- SIB
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Molecular Modeling Group, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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43
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Zhang H, Li J, Toth K, Tollefson AE, Jing L, Gao S, Liu X, Zhan P. Identification of Ebselen derivatives as novel SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and structure-activity relationships exploration. Bioorg Med Chem 2023; 96:117531. [PMID: 37972434 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2023.117531] [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: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro) represents one of the most effective and attractive targets for designing anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs. In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel series of Ebselen derivatives by incorporating privileged fragments from different pockets of the Mpro active site. Among these compounds, 11 compounds showed submicromolar activity in the FRET-based SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibition assay, with IC50 values ranging from 233 nM to 550 nM. Notably, compound 3a displayed submicromolar Mpro activity (IC50 = 364 nM) and low micromolar antiviral activity (EC50 = 8.01 µM), comparable to that of Ebselen (IC50 = 339 nM, EC50 = 3.78 µM). Time-dependent inhibition assay confirmed that these compounds acted as covalent inhibitors. Taken together, our optimization campaigns thoroughly explored the structural diversity of Ebselen and verified the impact of specific modifications on potency against Mpro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Zhang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Ji'nan, Shandong, PR China
| | - Jing Li
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Ji'nan, Shandong, PR China
| | - Karoly Toth
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, United States; Saint Louis University Institute for Drug and Biotherapeutic Innovation, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, United States
| | - Ann E Tollefson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, United States; Saint Louis University Institute for Drug and Biotherapeutic Innovation, St. Louis, Missouri 63104, United States
| | - Lanlan Jing
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Ji'nan, Shandong, PR China
| | - Shenghua Gao
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Ji'nan, Shandong, PR China
| | - Xinyong Liu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Ji'nan, Shandong, PR China.
| | - Peng Zhan
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Culture Road, 250012 Ji'nan, Shandong, PR China.
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44
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Pérez-Vargas J, Worrall LJ, Olmstead AD, Ton AT, Lee J, Villanueva I, Thompson CAH, Dudek S, Ennis S, Smith JR, Shapira T, De Guzman J, Gang S, Ban F, Vuckovic M, Bielecki M, Kovacic S, Kenward C, Hong CY, Gordon DG, Levett PN, Krajden M, Leduc R, Boudreault PL, Niikura M, Paetzel M, Young RN, Cherkasov A, Strynadka NCJ, Jean F. A novel class of broad-spectrum active-site-directed 3C-like protease inhibitors with nanomolar antiviral activity against highly immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. Emerg Microbes Infect 2023; 12:2246594. [PMID: 37555275 PMCID: PMC10453993 DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2246594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
Antivirals with broad coronavirus activity are important for treating high-risk individuals exposed to the constantly evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) as well as emerging drug-resistant variants. We developed and characterized a novel class of active-site-directed 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) inhibitors (C2-C5a). Our lead direct-acting antiviral (DAA), C5a, is a non-covalent, non-peptide with a dissociation constant of 170 nM against recombinant SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro. The compounds C2-C5a exhibit broad-spectrum activity against Omicron subvariants (BA.5, BQ.1.1, and XBB.1.5) and seasonal human coronavirus-229E infection in human cells. Notably, C5a has median effective concentrations of 30-50 nM against BQ.1.1 and XBB.1.5 in two different human cell lines. X-ray crystallography has confirmed the unique binding modes of C2-C5a to the 3CLpro, which can limit virus cross-resistance to emerging Paxlovid-resistant variants. We tested the effect of C5a with two of our newly discovered host-directed antivirals (HDAs): N-0385, a TMPRSS2 inhibitor, and bafilomycin D (BafD), a human vacuolar H+-ATPase [V-ATPase] inhibitor. We demonstrated a synergistic action of C5a in combination with N-0385 and BafD against Omicron BA.5 infection in human Calu-3 lung cells. Our findings underscore that a SARS-CoV-2 multi-targeted treatment for circulating Omicron subvariants based on DAAs (C5a) and HDAs (N-0385 or BafD) can lead to therapeutic benefits by enhancing treatment efficacy. Furthermore, the high-resolution structures of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro in complex with C2-C5a will facilitate future rational optimization of our novel broad-spectrum active-site-directed 3C-like protease inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jimena Pérez-Vargas
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Liam J. Worrall
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Andrea D. Olmstead
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Anh-Tien Ton
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Jaeyong Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Ivan Villanueva
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Connor A. H. Thompson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Svenja Dudek
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Siobhan Ennis
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Jason R. Smith
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Tirosh Shapira
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Joshua De Guzman
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Shutong Gang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Fuqiang Ban
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Marija Vuckovic
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Michael Bielecki
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Suzana Kovacic
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Calem Kenward
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Christopher Yee Hong
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Danielle G. Gordon
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Paul N. Levett
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Mel Krajden
- British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory, Vancouver, Canada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Richard Leduc
- Department of Pharmacology-Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institut de Pharmacologie de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada
| | - Pierre-Luc Boudreault
- Department of Pharmacology-Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institut de Pharmacologie de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada
| | - Masahiro Niikura
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Mark Paetzel
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Robert N. Young
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Artem Cherkasov
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Natalie C. J. Strynadka
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - François Jean
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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45
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Gabizon R, Tivon B, Reddi RN, van den Oetelaar MCM, Amartely H, Cossar PJ, Ottmann C, London N. A simple method for developing lysine targeted covalent protein reagents. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7933. [PMID: 38040731 PMCID: PMC10692228 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42632-5] [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: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptide-based covalent probes can target shallow protein surfaces not typically addressable using small molecules, yet there is a need for versatile approaches to convert native peptide sequences into covalent binders that can target a broad range of residues. Here we report protein-based thio-methacrylate esters-electrophiles that can be installed easily on unprotected peptides and proteins via cysteine side chains, and react efficiently and selectively with cysteine and lysine side chains on the target. Methacrylate phosphopeptides derived from 14-3-3-binding proteins irreversibly label 14-3-3σ via either lysine or cysteine residues, depending on the position of the electrophile. Methacrylate peptides targeting a conserved lysine residue exhibit pan-isoform binding of 14-3-3 proteins both in lysates and in extracellular media. Finally, we apply this approach to develop protein-based covalent binders. A methacrylate-modified variant of the colicin E9 immunity protein irreversibly binds to the E9 DNAse, resulting in significantly higher thermal stability relative to the non-covalent complex. Our approach offers a simple and versatile route to convert peptides and proteins into potent covalent binders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronen Gabizon
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Barr Tivon
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Rambabu N Reddi
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Maxime C M van den Oetelaar
- Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Hadar Amartely
- Wolfson Centre for Applied Structural Biology, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel
| | - Peter J Cossar
- Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Ottmann
- Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Nir London
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel.
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46
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Mansouri R, Bouzina A, Sekiou O, Aouf Z, Zerrouki R, Ibrahim-Ouali M, Aouf NE. Novel pseudonucleosides and sulfamoyl-oxazolidinone β- D-glucosamine derivative as anti-COVID-19: design, synthesis, and in silico study. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:10999-11016. [PMID: 37098814 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2203246] [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: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 04/27/2023]
Abstract
New pseudonucleosides containing cyclic sulfamide moiety and sulfamoyl β-D-glucosamine derivative are described. These pseudonucleosides are synthesized in good yields starting from chlorosulfonyl isocyanate and β-D-glucosamine hydrochloride in five steps; (protection, acetylation, removal of the Boc group, sulfamoylation, and cyclization). Further, novel glycosylated sulfamoyloxazolidin-2-one is prepared in three steps; carbamoylation, sulfamoylation, and intramolecular cyclization. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by usual spectroscopic and spectrometric methods NMR, IR, MS, and EA. Interesting molecular docking of the prepared pseudonucleosides and (Beclabuvir, Remdesivir) drugs with SARS-CoV-2/Mpro (PDB:5R80) was conducted using the same parameters for a fair comparison. A low binding affinity of the synthesized compounds compared to the Beclabuvir and other analysis showed that pseudonucleosides have the ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2. After the motivating results of molecular docking study, the complex between the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and compound 7 was subjected to 100 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulation using Desmond module of Schrodinger suite, during which the receptor-ligand complex showed substantial stability after 10 ns of MD simulation. Also, we studied the prediction of absorption, distribution, properties of metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) of the synthesized compounds.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachida Mansouri
- Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry Group, Sciences Faculty, Chemistry Department, Badji Mokhtar-Annaba University, Annaba, Algeria
- Environment, modeling, and climate change department, Environmental Research Center (CRE), Box 12, 23000 Annaba, Algeria
| | - Abdeslem Bouzina
- Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry Group, Sciences Faculty, Chemistry Department, Badji Mokhtar-Annaba University, Annaba, Algeria
| | - Omar Sekiou
- Environment, modeling, and climate change department, Environmental Research Center (CRE), Box 12, 23000 Annaba, Algeria
| | - Zineb Aouf
- Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry Group, Sciences Faculty, Chemistry Department, Badji Mokhtar-Annaba University, Annaba, Algeria
| | - Rachida Zerrouki
- Laboratoire PEIRENE, EA7500 Université de Limoges, 123 avenue Albert Thomas, 87000, Limoges cedex, France
| | | | - Nour Eddine Aouf
- Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Bioorganic Chemistry Group, Sciences Faculty, Chemistry Department, Badji Mokhtar-Annaba University, Annaba, Algeria
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47
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Wu Y, Li K, Li M, Pu X, Guo Y. Attention Mechanism-Based Graph Neural Network Model for Effective Activity Prediction of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors: Application to Drug Repurposing as Potential COVID-19 Therapy. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:7011-7031. [PMID: 37960886 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Compared to de novo drug discovery, drug repurposing provides a time-efficient way to treat coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) has been proved to be an attractive drug target due to its pivotal involvement in viral replication and transcription. Here, we present a graph neural network-based deep-learning (DL) strategy to prioritize the existing drugs for their potential therapeutic effects against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Mpro inhibitors were represented as molecular graphs ready for graph attention network (GAT) and graph isomorphism network (GIN) modeling for predicting the inhibitory activities. The result shows that the GAT model outperforms the GIN and other competitive models and yields satisfactory predictions for unseen Mpro inhibitors, confirming its robustness and generalization. The attention mechanism of GAT enables to capture the dominant substructures and thus to realize the interpretability of the model. Finally, we applied the optimal GAT model in conjunction with molecular docking simulations to screen the Drug Repurposing Hub (DRH) database. As a result, 18 drug hits with best consensus prediction scores and binding affinity values were identified as the potential therapeutics against COVID-19. Both the extensive literature searching and evaluations on adsorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) illustrate the premium drug-likeness and pharmacokinetic properties of the drug candidates. Overall, our work not only provides an effective GAT-based DL prediction tool for inhibitory activity of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors but also provides theoretical guidelines for drug discovery in the COVID-19 treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanling Wu
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Kun Li
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Menglong Li
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Xuemei Pu
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Yanzhi Guo
- College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
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48
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Saar A, Ghahremanpour MM, Tirado-Rives J, Jorgensen WL. Assessing Metadynamics and Docking for Absolute Binding Free Energy Calculations Using Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Main Protease Inhibitors. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:7210-7218. [PMID: 37934762 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Absolute binding free energy (ABFE) calculations can be an important part of the drug discovery process by identifying molecules that have the potential to be strong binders for a biomolecular target. Recent work has used free energy perturbation (FEP) theory for these calculations, focusing on a set of 16 inhibitors of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 main protease (Mpro). Herein, the same data set is evaluated by metadynamics (MetaD), four different docking programs, and molecular mechanics with generalized Born and surface area solvation. MetaD yields a Kendall τ distance of 0.28 and Pearson r2 of 0.49, which reflect somewhat less accuracy than that from the ABFE FEP results. Notably, it is demonstrated that an ensemble docking protocol by which each ligand is docked into the 13 crystal structures in this data set provides improved performance, particularly when docking is carried out with Glide XP (Kendall τ distance = 0.20, Pearson r2 = 0.71), Glide SP (Kendall τ distance = 0.19, Pearson r2 = 0.66), or AutoDock 4 (Kendall τ distance = 0.21, Pearson r2 = 0.55). The best results are obtained with "superconsensus" docking by averaging the 52 results for each compound using the 4 docking protocols and all 13 crystal structures (Kendall τ distance = 0.18, Pearson r2 = 0.73).
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasia Saar
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | | | - Julian Tirado-Rives
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - William L Jorgensen
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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49
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Boby ML, Fearon D, Ferla M, Filep M, Koekemoer L, Robinson MC, Chodera JD, Lee AA, London N, von Delft A, von Delft F, Achdout H, Aimon A, Alonzi DS, Arbon R, Aschenbrenner JC, Balcomb BH, Bar-David E, Barr H, Ben-Shmuel A, Bennett J, Bilenko VA, Borden B, Boulet P, Bowman GR, Brewitz L, Brun J, Bvnbs S, Calmiano M, Carbery A, Carney DW, Cattermole E, Chang E, Chernyshenko E, Clyde A, Coffland JE, Cohen G, Cole JC, Contini A, Cox L, Croll TI, Cvitkovic M, De Jonghe S, Dias A, Donckers K, Dotson DL, Douangamath A, Duberstein S, Dudgeon T, Dunnett LE, Eastman P, Erez N, Eyermann CJ, Fairhead M, Fate G, Fedorov O, Fernandes RS, Ferrins L, Foster R, Foster H, Fraisse L, Gabizon R, García-Sastre A, Gawriljuk VO, Gehrtz P, Gileadi C, Giroud C, Glass WG, Glen RC, Glinert I, Godoy AS, Gorichko M, Gorrie-Stone T, Griffen EJ, Haneef A, Hassell Hart S, Heer J, Henry M, Hill M, Horrell S, Huang QYJ, Huliak VD, Hurley MFD, Israely T, Jajack A, Jansen J, Jnoff E, Jochmans D, John T, Kaminow B, Kang L, Kantsadi AL, Kenny PW, Kiappes JL, Kinakh SO, Kovar B, Krojer T, La VNT, Laghnimi-Hahn S, Lefker BA, Levy H, Lithgo RM, Logvinenko IG, Lukacik P, Macdonald HB, MacLean EM, Makower LL, Malla TR, Marples PG, Matviiuk T, McCorkindale W, McGovern BL, Melamed S, Melnykov KP, Michurin O, Miesen P, Mikolajek H, Milne BF, Minh D, Morris A, Morris GM, Morwitzer MJ, Moustakas D, Mowbray CE, Nakamura AM, Neto JB, Neyts J, Nguyen L, Noske GD, Oleinikovas V, Oliva G, Overheul GJ, Owen CD, Pai R, Pan J, Paran N, Payne AM, Perry B, Pingle M, Pinjari J, Politi B, Powell A, Pšenák V, Pulido I, Puni R, Rangel VL, Reddi RN, Rees P, Reid SP, Reid L, Resnick E, Ripka EG, Robinson RP, Rodriguez-Guerra J, Rosales R, Rufa DA, Saar K, Saikatendu KS, Salah E, Schaller D, Scheen J, Schiffer CA, Schofield CJ, Shafeev M, Shaikh A, Shaqra AM, Shi J, Shurrush K, Singh S, Sittner A, Sjö P, Skyner R, Smalley A, Smeets B, Smilova MD, Solmesky LJ, Spencer J, Strain-Damerell C, Swamy V, Tamir H, Taylor JC, Tennant RE, Thompson W, Thompson A, Tomásio S, Tomlinson CWE, Tsurupa IS, Tumber A, Vakonakis I, van Rij RP, Vangeel L, Varghese FS, Vaschetto M, Vitner EB, Voelz V, Volkamer A, Walsh MA, Ward W, Weatherall C, Weiss S, White KM, Wild CF, Witt KD, Wittmann M, Wright N, Yahalom-Ronen Y, Yilmaz NK, Zaidmann D, Zhang I, Zidane H, Zitzmann N, Zvornicanin SN. Open science discovery of potent noncovalent SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors. Science 2023; 382:eabo7201. [PMID: 37943932 PMCID: PMC7615835 DOI: 10.1126/science.abo7201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
We report the results of the COVID Moonshot, a fully open-science, crowdsourced, and structure-enabled drug discovery campaign targeting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease. We discovered a noncovalent, nonpeptidic inhibitor scaffold with lead-like properties that is differentiated from current main protease inhibitors. Our approach leveraged crowdsourcing, machine learning, exascale molecular simulations, and high-throughput structural biology and chemistry. We generated a detailed map of the structural plasticity of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, extensive structure-activity relationships for multiple chemotypes, and a wealth of biochemical activity data. All compound designs (>18,000 designs), crystallographic data (>490 ligand-bound x-ray structures), assay data (>10,000 measurements), and synthesized molecules (>2400 compounds) for this campaign were shared rapidly and openly, creating a rich, open, and intellectual property-free knowledge base for future anticoronavirus drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa L Boby
- Pharmacology Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Program in Chemical Biology, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Program in Computational and Systems Biology, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Daren Fearon
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
| | - Matteo Ferla
- Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute for Health Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mihajlo Filep
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Lizbé Koekemoer
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Structural Genomics Consortium, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - John D Chodera
- Program in Computational and Systems Biology, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | | | - Nir London
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Annette von Delft
- Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, National Institute for Health Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Structural Genomics Consortium, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Frank von Delft
- Diamond Light Source Ltd., Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
- Centre for Medicines Discovery, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Structural Genomics Consortium, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
| | - Hagit Achdout
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Anthony Aimon
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Dominic S Alonzi
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Robert Arbon
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jasmin C Aschenbrenner
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Blake H Balcomb
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Elad Bar-David
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Haim Barr
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Wohl Institute for Drug Discovery of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Amir Ben-Shmuel
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - James Bennett
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Target Discovery Institute, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - Vitaliy A Bilenko
- Enamine Ltd, Kyiv, 02094, Ukraine
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine
| | | | - Pascale Boulet
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- University of Pennsylvania, Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Bioengineering, Philadelphia, PA 19083, USA
| | - Lennart Brewitz
- University of Oxford, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
| | - Juliane Brun
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Sarma Bvnbs
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, ICICI Knowledge Park, Shameerpet, Hyderabad 500 078, Telangana, India
| | | | - Anna Carbery
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- University of Oxford, Department of Statistics, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK
| | - Daniel W Carney
- Takeda Development Center Americas, Inc., San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Emma Cattermole
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Edcon Chang
- Takeda Development Center Americas, Inc., San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | | | | | | | - Galit Cohen
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Wohl Institute for Drug Discovery of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Jason C Cole
- Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, Cambridge, CB2 1EZ, UK
| | - Alessandro Contini
- University of Milan, Department of General and Organic Chemistry, Milan, 20133, Italy
| | - Lisa Cox
- Life Compass Consulting Ltd, Macclesfield, SK10 5UE, UK
| | - Tristan Ian Croll
- The University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Department of Haematology, Cambridge CB2 0XY, UK
- Present address: Altos Labs, BioML group, Great Abington, CB21 6GP
| | | | - Steven De Jonghe
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alex Dias
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Kim Donckers
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Alice Douangamath
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Shirly Duberstein
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Wohl Institute for Drug Discovery of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Tim Dudgeon
- Informatics Matters Ltd, Bicester, OX26 6JU, UK
| | - Louise E Dunnett
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Peter Eastman
- Stanford University, Department of Chemistry, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Noam Erez
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Charles J Eyermann
- Northeastern University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Boston MA 02115, USA
| | - Michael Fairhead
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Gwen Fate
- Thames Pharma Partners LLC, Mystic, CT 06355, USA
| | - Oleg Fedorov
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Target Discovery Institute, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - Rafaela S Fernandes
- University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Lori Ferrins
- Northeastern University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Boston MA 02115, USA
| | - Richard Foster
- University of Leeds, School of Chemistry, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Holly Foster
- University of Leeds, School of Chemistry, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
- Present address: Exscientia, Oxford Science Park, Oxford, OX4 4GE, UK
| | - Laurent Fraisse
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
| | - Ronen Gabizon
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Adolfo García-Sastre
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Microbiology, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Tisch Cancer Institute, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Victor O Gawriljuk
- University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
- Present address: University of Groningen, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, Department of Drug Design, Groningen, 9700 AV, Netherlands
| | - Paul Gehrtz
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
- Present address: Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, 64293, Germany
| | - Carina Gileadi
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Charline Giroud
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Target Discovery Institute, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - William G Glass
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Present address: Exscientia, Oxford Science Park, Oxford, OX4 4GE, UK
| | - Robert C Glen
- University of Cambridge, Department of Chemistry, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Itai Glinert
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Andre S Godoy
- University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Marian Gorichko
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine
| | - Tyler Gorrie-Stone
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Ed J Griffen
- MedChemica Ltd, Macclesfield, Cheshire. SK11 6PU UK
| | - Amna Haneef
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, Chicago IL 60616 USA
| | - Storm Hassell Hart
- University of Sussex, Department of Chemistry, School of Life Sciences, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9QJ, UK
| | - Jag Heer
- Syngene International Limited, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7BZ, UK
| | - Michael Henry
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Michelle Hill
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Present address: Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford. OX1 3RE, UK
| | - Sam Horrell
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Qiu Yu Judy Huang
- University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | | | | | - Tomer Israely
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | | | - Jitske Jansen
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, Aachen, 52074, Germany
| | - Eric Jnoff
- UCB, Chemin du Foriest, 1420 Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
| | - Dirk Jochmans
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tobias John
- University of Oxford, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
- Present address: AMSilk, Neuried, 82061, Germany
| | - Benjamin Kaminow
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Lulu Kang
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Applied Mathematics, Chicago IL 60616 USA
| | - Anastassia L Kantsadi
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- University of Thessaly, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Larissa, 415 00, Greece
| | - Peter W Kenny
- Berwick-on-Sea, North Coast Road, Blanchisseuse, Saint George, Trinidad and Tobago
| | - J L Kiappes
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Present address: University College of London, Department of Chemistry, London WC1H 0AJ, UK
| | | | - Boris Kovar
- M2M solutions s.r.o. Žilina, 010 01, Slovakia
| | - Tobias Krojer
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
- MAX IV Laboratory, Fotongatan 2, 224 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Van Ngoc Thuy La
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, Chicago IL 60616 USA
| | | | | | - Haim Levy
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Ryan M Lithgo
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | | | - Petra Lukacik
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Hannah Bruce Macdonald
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Present address: Charm Therapeutics, London, N1C 4AG, UK
| | - Elizabeth M MacLean
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Laetitia L Makower
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Tika R Malla
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Peter G Marples
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | | | - Willam McCorkindale
- Present address: Charm Therapeutics, London, N1C 4AG, UK
- University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, CB3 0HE UK
| | - Briana L McGovern
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Microbiology, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Sharon Melamed
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Kostiantyn P Melnykov
- Enamine Ltd, Kyiv, 02094, Ukraine
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, 01601, Ukraine
| | | | - Pascal Miesen
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Nijmegen, 6525 GA, Netherlands
| | - Halina Mikolajek
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Bruce F Milne
- University of Aberdeen, Department of Chemistry, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3UE Scotland, UK
- University of Coimbra, CFisUC, Department of Physics, Coimbra, 3004-516, Portugal
| | - David Minh
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry, Chicago IL 60616 USA
| | | | - Garrett M Morris
- University of Oxford, Department of Statistics, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK
| | - Melody Jane Morwitzer
- University of Nebraska Medical Centre, Dept of Pathology and Microbiology, Omaha, NE 68198-5900, USA
| | | | - Charles E Mowbray
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
| | - Aline M Nakamura
- University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
- Present address: Instituto Butantan, Sao Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil
| | - Jose Brandao Neto
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Johan Neyts
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Gabriela D Noske
- University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Vladas Oleinikovas
- UCB, Slough, SL1 3WE, UK
- Present address: Monte Rosa Therapeutics, Basel, CH 4057, Switzerland
| | - Glaucius Oliva
- University of Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Institute of Physics, Sao Carlos, 13563-120, Brazil
| | - Gijs J Overheul
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Nijmegen, 6525 GA, Netherlands
| | - C David Owen
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Ruby Pai
- PostEra Inc., Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Jin Pan
- PostEra Inc., Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Nir Paran
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Alexander Matthew Payne
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Benjamin Perry
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
- Present address: Medicxi, Geneva, 1204, Switzerland
| | - Maneesh Pingle
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, ICICI Knowledge Park, Shameerpet, Hyderabad 500 078, Telangana, India
| | - Jakir Pinjari
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, ICICI Knowledge Park, Shameerpet, Hyderabad 500 078, Telangana, India
- Present address: Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC), Baroda, India
| | - Boaz Politi
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Ailsa Powell
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | | | - Iván Pulido
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Reut Puni
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Victor L Rangel
- University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ribeirão Preto - SP/CEP 14040-903, Brazil
- Present address: Evotec (UK) Ltd, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4RZ, UK
| | - Rambabu N Reddi
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Paul Rees
- Compass Bussiness Partners Ltd, Southcliffe, Bucks, SL9 0PD, UK
| | - St Patrick Reid
- University of Nebraska Medical Centre, Dept of Pathology and Microbiology, Omaha, NE 68198-5900, USA
| | - Lauren Reid
- MedChemica Ltd, Macclesfield, Cheshire. SK11 6PU UK
| | - Efrat Resnick
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | | | | | - Jaime Rodriguez-Guerra
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, In silico Toxicology and Structural Bioinformatics, Berlin, 10117, Germany
| | - Romel Rosales
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Microbiology, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Dominic A Rufa
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Kadi Saar
- University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, CB3 0HE UK
| | | | - Eidarus Salah
- University of Oxford, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
| | - David Schaller
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, In silico Toxicology and Structural Bioinformatics, Berlin, 10117, Germany
| | - Jenke Scheen
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Celia A Schiffer
- University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | - Christopher J Schofield
- University of Oxford, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
| | | | - Aarif Shaikh
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, ICICI Knowledge Park, Shameerpet, Hyderabad 500 078, Telangana, India
| | - Ala M Shaqra
- University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | - Jiye Shi
- UCB, Chemin du Foriest, 1420 Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
- Present address: Eli Lilly and Company, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Khriesto Shurrush
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Wohl Institute for Drug Discovery of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Sukrit Singh
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Assa Sittner
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Peter Sjö
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
| | - Rachael Skyner
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | | | - Bart Smeets
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of pathology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Nijmegen, 6525 GA, Netherlands
| | - Mihaela D Smilova
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Leonardo J Solmesky
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Wohl Institute for Drug Discovery of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - John Spencer
- University of Sussex, Department of Chemistry, School of Life Sciences, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9QJ, UK
| | - Claire Strain-Damerell
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Vishwanath Swamy
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, ICICI Knowledge Park, Shameerpet, Hyderabad 500 078, Telangana, India
- Present address: TCG Life Sciences, Pune, India
| | - Hadas Tamir
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Jenny C Taylor
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | | | - Warren Thompson
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Andrew Thompson
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
- Present address: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Charles W E Tomlinson
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | | | - Anthony Tumber
- University of Oxford, Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK
| | - Ioannis Vakonakis
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
- Present address: Lonza Biologics, Lonza Ltd, Lonzastrasse, CH-3930 Visp, Switzerland
| | - Ronald P van Rij
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Nijmegen, 6525 GA, Netherlands
| | - Laura Vangeel
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Finny S Varghese
- Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Nijmegen, 6525 GA, Netherlands
- Present address: uniQure Biopharma, Amsterdam, 1105 BP, Netherlands
| | | | - Einat B Vitner
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Vincent Voelz
- Temple University, Department of Chemistry, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Andrea Volkamer
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, In silico Toxicology and Structural Bioinformatics, Berlin, 10117, Germany
- Present address: Saarland University, Data Driven Drug Design, Campus - E2.1, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Martin A Walsh
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Walter Ward
- Walter Ward Consultancy and Training, Derbyshire, SK22 4AA, UK
| | | | - Shay Weiss
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Kris M White
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Microbiology, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Conor Francis Wild
- Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK
- Research Complex at Harwell, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UK
| | - Karolina D Witt
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Pandemic Sciences Institute, Oxford, Oxon, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Matthew Wittmann
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Nathan Wright
- University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicines Discovery, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Yfat Yahalom-Ronen
- Israel Institute for Biological Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ness-Ziona, Israel
| | - Nese Kurt Yilmaz
- University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, Worcester MA 01655, USA
| | - Daniel Zaidmann
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Ivy Zhang
- Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Computational and Systems Biology Program, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Hadeer Zidane
- The Weizmann Institute of Science, Wohl Institute for Drug Discovery of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel
| | - Nicole Zitzmann
- University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry, Oxford Glycobiology Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Sarah N Zvornicanin
- University of Massachusetts, Chan Medical School, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, Worcester MA 01655, USA
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Shoichet BK, Craik CS. Preparing for the next pandemic. Science 2023; 382:649-650. [PMID: 37943911 PMCID: PMC11128322 DOI: 10.1126/science.adk5868] [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] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
New lead drugs to treat COVID-19 are beginning to emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian K Shoichet
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California San Francisco, San Franciso, CA, USA
| | - Charles S Craik
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California San Francisco, San Franciso, CA, USA
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