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van Vliet VJE, De Silva A, Mark BL, Kikkert M. Viral deubiquitinating proteases and the promising strategies of their inhibition. Virus Res 2024; 344:199368. [PMID: 38588924 PMCID: PMC11025011 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2024.199368] [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: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Several viruses are now known to code for deubiquitinating proteases in their genomes. Ubiquitination is an essential post-translational modification of cellular substrates involved in many processes in the cell, including in innate immune signalling. This post-translational modification is regulated by the ubiquitin conjugation machinery, as well as various host deubiquitinating enzymes. The conjugation of ubiquitin chains to several innate immune related factors is often needed to induce downstream signalling, shaping the antiviral response. Viral deubiquitinating proteins, besides often having a primary function in the viral replication cycle by cleaving the viral polyprotein, are also able to cleave ubiquitin chains from such host substrates, in that way exerting a function in innate immune evasion. The presence of viral deubiquitinating enzymes has been firmly established for numerous animal-infecting viruses, such as some well-researched and clinically important nidoviruses, and their presence has now been confirmed in several plant viruses as well. Viral proteases in general have long been highlighted as promising drug targets, with a current focus on small molecule inhibitors. In this review, we will discuss the range of viral deubiquitinating proteases known to date, summarise the various avenues explored to inhibit such proteases and discuss novel strategies and models intended to inhibit and study these specific viral enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera J E van Vliet
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Center of Infectious Diseases (LU-CID), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, South Holland, the Netherlands; The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Anuradha De Silva
- Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Brian L Mark
- Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Marjolein Kikkert
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Center of Infectious Diseases (LU-CID), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, South Holland, the Netherlands.
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Ren P, Li S, Wang S, Zhang X, Bai F. Computer-Aided Prediction of the Interactions of Viral Proteases with Antiviral Drugs: Antiviral Potential of Broad-Spectrum Drugs. Molecules 2023; 29:225. [PMID: 38202808 PMCID: PMC10780089 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29010225] [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: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Human society is facing the threat of various viruses. Proteases are promising targets for the treatment of viral infections. In this study, we collected and profiled 170 protease sequences from 125 viruses that infect humans. Approximately 73 of them are viral 3-chymotrypsin-like proteases (3CLpro), and 11 are pepsin-like aspartic proteases (PAPs). Their sequences, structures, and substrate characteristics were carefully analyzed to identify their conserved nature for proposing a pan-3CLpro or pan-PAPs inhibitor design strategy. To achieve this, we used computational prediction and modeling methods to predict the binding complex structures for those 73 3CLpro with 4 protease inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 and 11 protease inhibitors of HCV. Similarly, the complex structures for the 11 viral PAPs with 9 protease inhibitors of HIV were also obtained. The binding affinities between these compounds and proteins were also evaluated to assess their pan-protease inhibition via MM-GBSA. Based on the drugs targeting viral 3CLpro and PAPs, repositioning of the active compounds identified several potential uses for these drug molecules. As a result, Compounds 1-2, modified based on the structures of Ray1216 and Asunaprevir, indicate potential inhibition of DENV protease according to our computational simulation results. These studies offer ideas and insights for future research in the design of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengxuan Ren
- School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; (P.R.); (S.L.); (S.W.)
| | - Shiwei Li
- School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; (P.R.); (S.L.); (S.W.)
| | - Shihang Wang
- School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; (P.R.); (S.L.); (S.W.)
| | - Xianglei Zhang
- School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; (P.R.); (S.L.); (S.W.)
| | - Fang Bai
- School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; (P.R.); (S.L.); (S.W.)
- School of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
- Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center, Shanghai 201210, China
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Luo M, Ma J, Pan X, Zhang X, Yao H. AEN Suppresses the Replication of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus by Inducing the Expression of Type I IFN and ISGs in MARC-145 Cells. Pathogens 2023; 13:24. [PMID: 38251332 PMCID: PMC10819003 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13010024] [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: 12/02/2023] [Revised: 12/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Apoptosis-enhancing nuclease (AEN), which shares close evolutionary relationships with the interferon-stimulated gene 20 protein (ISG20) homologs in humans, is a member of the DEDDh exonuclease family. Numerous studies on various pathogens have identified the essential roles of ISG20 in inhibiting virus replication. However, the fundamental functions of AEN during viral infection remain largely unknown. This study discovered that AEN expression was significantly upregulated in MARC-145 cells infected with Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) strain 85-7. In contrast, the amount of AEN protein decreased as viral replication increased. It was found that PEDV nsp1 and nsp5 mediated the decrease in AEN production, suggesting that an increase in AEN was not conducive to virus replication. By comparing AEN and its exonuclease-inactive mutant AEN-4A, we determined that the antiviral activity of AEN was independent of its exonuclease function. qPCR analyses revealed that AEN and AEN-4A could induce a significant increase in the transcription levels of IFN-α, IFN-β, and ISGs (OASL, IFI44, IFIT2, ISG15, Mx1, Mx2), and that AEN-4A has a higher induction ability. Overexpression of AEN and AEN-4A in MARC-145 cells targeting IFN-β knockdown or IFN-deficient Vero cells showed reduced or a complete loss of antiviral activity of both, suggesting that AEN may activate the type I IFN immune response and promote the expression of ISGs, thereby inhibiting PEDV replication. Taken together, our data prove the novel mechanism of AEN-mediated virus restriction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miao Luo
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
| | - Jiale Ma
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
| | - Xinming Pan
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
| | - Xinqin Zhang
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
| | - Huochun Yao
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Bacteriology, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
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Xiong Y, Huang B, Yang Y, Fu X, Fu Z, Xu H, Liu M, Cao D, Zhang M, Yang H, Niu X, Yu C, Huang H. The substrate selectivity of papain-like proteases from human-infecting coronaviruses correlates with innate immune suppression. Sci Signal 2023; 16:eade1985. [PMID: 37130166 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.ade1985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Coronaviruses that can infect humans can cause either common colds (HCoV-NL63, HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, and HCoV-OC43) or severe respiratory symptoms (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV). The papain-like proteases (PLPs) of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and HCoV-NL63 function in viral innate immune evasion and have deubiquitinating (DUB) and deISGylating activities. We identified the PLPs of HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, and HCoV-OC43 and found that their enzymatic properties correlated with their ability to suppress innate immune responses. A conserved noncatalytic aspartic acid residue was critical for both DUB and deISGylating activities, but the PLPs had differing ubiquitin (Ub) chain cleavage selectivities and binding affinities for Ub, K48-linked diUb, and interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) substrates. The crystal structure of HKU1-PLP2 in complex with Ub revealed binding interfaces that accounted for the unusually high binding affinity between this PLP and Ub. In cellular assays, the PLPs from the severe disease-causing coronaviruses strongly suppressed innate immune IFN-I and NF-κB signaling and stimulated autophagy, whereas the PLPs from the mild disease-causing coronaviruses generally showed weaker effects on immune suppression and autophagy induction. In addition, a PLP from a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern showed increased suppression of innate immune signaling pathways. Overall, these results demonstrated that the DUB and deISGylating activities and substrate selectivities of these PLPs differentially contribute to viral innate immune evasion and may affect viral pathogenicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxian Xiong
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
- Institute of Chemical Biology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518132, China
| | - Bin Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Ying Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Xinming Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Ziyang Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Huidong Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Ming Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Dan Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Manman Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Haibin Yang
- Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Xiaogang Niu
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Beijing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Cong Yu
- Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Hao Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Laboratory of Structural Biology and Drug Discovery, Laboratory of Ubiquitination and Targeted Therapy, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
- Institute of Chemical Biology, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518132, China
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Wang P, Wang X, Liu X, Sun M, Liang X, Bai J, Jiang P. Natural Compound ZINC12899676 Reduces Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Replication by Inhibiting the Viral NTPase Activity. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:879733. [PMID: 35600889 PMCID: PMC9114645 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.879733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an alphacoronavirus (α-CoV) that causes high mortality in suckling piglets, leading to severe economic losses worldwide. No effective vaccine or commercial antiviral drug is readily available. Several replicative enzymes are responsible for coronavirus replication. In this study, the potential candidates targeting replicative enzymes (PLP2, 3CLpro, RdRp, NTPase, and NendoU) were screened from 187,119 compounds in ZINC natural products library, and seven compounds had high binding potential to NTPase and showed drug-like property. Among them, ZINC12899676 was identified to significantly inhibit the NTPase activity of PEDV by targeting its active pocket and causing its conformational change, and ZINC12899676 significantly inhibited PEDV replication in IPEC-J2 cells. It first demonstrated that ZINC12899676 inhibits PEDV replication by targeting NTPase, and then, NTPase may serve as a novel target for anti-PEDV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pengcheng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xianwei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xing Liu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Meng Sun
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiao Liang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Juan Bai
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ping Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Diagnostics and Immunology, Ministry of Agriculture, MOE International Joint Collaborative Research Laboratory for Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Ping Jiang,
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Abstract
Coronaviral papain-like proteases (PLpros) are essential enzymes that mediate not only the proteolytic processes of viral polyproteins during virus replication, but also the deubiquitination and deISGylation of cellular proteins that attenuate host innate immune responses. Therefore, PLpros are attractive targets for antiviral drug development. Here we report the crystal structure of the papain-like protease 2 (PLP2) of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in complex with ubiquitin (Ub). The X-ray structural analyses reveal that PEDV PLP2 interacts with Ub substrate mainly through the Ub core region and C-terminal tail. Mutations of Ub-interacting residues resulted in moderately or completely abolished deubiquitinylating function of PEDV PLP2. In addition, our analyses also indicate that the two residues-extended blocking loop 2 at the S4 subsite contributes to the substrate selectivity and binding affinity of PEDV PLP2. Furthermore, the PEDV PLP2 Glu99 residue, conserved in alpha-CoV PLpros, was found to govern the preference of a positively charged P4 residue of peptidyl substrates. Collectively, our data provided structure-based information for substrate binding and selectivity of PEDV PLP2. These findings may help us gain insights into the deubiquitinating and proteolytic functions of PEDV PLP2 from a structural perspective. Importance Current challenges in CoVs include a comprehensive understanding of mechanistic effects of associated enzymes, including the 3C-like and papain-like proteases. We have previously reported that the PEDV PLP2 exhibits a broader substrate preference, superior DUB function, and inferior peptidase activity. However, the structure basis for these functions remains largely unclear. Here, we show the high-resolution X-ray crystal structure of PEDV PLP2 in complex with Ub. Integrated structural and biochemical analyses revealed: (i) three Ub-core interacting residues are essential for DUB function, (ii) two-residue-elongated blocking loop 2 regulates substrate selectivity, and (iii) a conserved glutamate residue governs the substrate specificity of PEDV PLP2. Collectively, our findings provide not only the structural insights to the catalytic mechanism of PEDV PLP2 but also a model for developing antiviral strategies.
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