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Kenward C, Vuckovic M, Paetzel M, Strynadka NCJ. Kinetic comparison of all eleven viral polyprotein cleavage site processing events by SARS-CoV-2 main protease using a linked protein FRET platform. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107367. [PMID: 38750796 PMCID: PMC11209022 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107367] [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: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro) remains an essential therapeutic target for COVID-19 post infection intervention given its critical role in processing the majority of viral proteins encoded by the genome of severe acute respiratory syndrome related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Upon viral entry, the +ssRNA genome is translated into two long polyproteins (pp1a or the frameshift-dependent pp1ab) containing all the nonstructural proteins (nsps) required by the virus for immune modulation, replication, and ultimately, virion assembly. Included among these nsps is the cysteine protease Mpro (nsp5) which self-excises from the polyprotein, dimerizes, then sequentially cleaves 11 of the 15 cut-site junctions found between each nsp within the polyprotein. Many structures of Mpro (often bound to various small molecule inhibitors or peptides) have been detailed recently, including structures of Mpro bound to each of the polyprotein cleavage sequences, showing that Mpro can accommodate a wide range of targets within its active site. However, to date, kinetic characterization of the interaction of Mpro with each of its native cleavage sequences remains incomplete. Here, we present a robust and cost-effective FRET based system that benefits from a more consistent presentation of the substrate that is also closer in organization to the native polyprotein environment compared to previously reported FRET systems that use chemically modified peptides. Using this system, we were able to show that while each site maintains a similar Michaelis constant, the catalytic efficiency of Mpro varies greatly between cut-site sequences, suggesting a clear preference for the order of nsp processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Calem Kenward
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Marija Vuckovic
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Mark Paetzel
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
| | - Natalie C J Strynadka
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Centre for Blood Research, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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Martiáñez-Vendrell X, Bloeme-ter Horst J, Hutchinson R, Guy C, Bowie AG, Kikkert M. Human Coronavirus 229E Infection Inactivates Pyroptosis Executioner Gasdermin D but Ultimately Leads to Lytic Cell Death Partly Mediated by Gasdermin E. Viruses 2024; 16:898. [PMID: 38932190 PMCID: PMC11209299 DOI: 10.3390/v16060898] [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: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) is associated with upper respiratory tract infections and generally causes mild respiratory symptoms. HCoV-229E infection can cause cell death, but the molecular pathways that lead to virus-induced cell death as well as the interplay between viral proteins and cellular cell death effectors remain poorly characterized for HCoV-229E. Studying how HCoV-229E and other common cold coronaviruses interact with and affect cell death pathways may help to understand its pathogenesis and compare it to that of highly pathogenic coronaviruses. Here, we report that the main protease (Mpro) of HCoV-229E can cleave gasdermin D (GSDMD) at two different sites (Q29 and Q193) within its active N-terminal domain to generate fragments that are now unable to cause pyroptosis, a form of lytic cell death normally executed by this protein. Despite GSDMD cleavage by HCoV-229E Mpro, we show that HCoV-229E infection still leads to lytic cell death. We demonstrate that during virus infection caspase-3 cleaves and activates gasdermin E (GSDME), another key executioner of pyroptosis. Accordingly, GSDME knockout cells show a significant decrease in lytic cell death upon virus infection. Finally, we show that HCoV-229E infection leads to increased lytic cell death levels in cells expressing a GSDMD mutant uncleavable by Mpro (GSDMD Q29A+Q193A). We conclude that GSDMD is inactivated by Mpro during HCoV-229E infection, preventing GSDMD-mediated cell death, and point to the caspase-3/GSDME axis as an important player in the execution of virus-induced cell death. In the context of similar reported findings for highly pathogenic coronaviruses, our results suggest that these mechanisms do not contribute to differences in pathogenicity among coronaviruses. Nonetheless, understanding the interactions of common cold-associated coronaviruses and their proteins with the programmed cell death machineries may lead to new clues for coronavirus control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Martiáñez-Vendrell
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Leiden University Center of Infectious Diseases (LU-CID), Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands; (X.M.-V.)
| | - Jonna Bloeme-ter Horst
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Leiden University Center of Infectious Diseases (LU-CID), Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands; (X.M.-V.)
| | - Roy Hutchinson
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Leiden University Center of Infectious Diseases (LU-CID), Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands; (X.M.-V.)
| | - Coralie Guy
- School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin 2, Ireland (A.G.B.)
| | - Andrew G. Bowie
- School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin 2, Ireland (A.G.B.)
| | - Marjolein Kikkert
- School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin 2, Ireland (A.G.B.)
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Li Z, Xiao W, Yang Z, Guo J, Zhou J, Xiao S, Fang P, Fang L. Cleavage of HDAC6 to dampen its antiviral activity by nsp5 is a common strategy of swine enteric coronaviruses. J Virol 2024; 98:e0181423. [PMID: 38289103 PMCID: PMC10878235 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01814-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
HDAC6, a structurally and functionally unique member of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) family, is an important host factor that restricts viral infection. The broad-spectrum antiviral activity of HDAC6 makes it a potent antiviral agent. Previously, we found that HDAC6 functions to antagonize porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), an emerging enteropathogenic coronavirus with zoonotic potential. However, the final outcome is typically a productive infection that materializes as cells succumb to viral infection, indicating that the virus has evolved sophisticated mechanisms to combat the antiviral effect of HDAC6. Here, we demonstrate that PDCoV nonstructural protein 5 (nsp5) can cleave HDAC6 at glutamine 519 (Q519), and cleavage of HDAC6 was also detected in the context of PDCoV infection. More importantly, the anti-PDCoV activity of HDAC6 was damaged by nsp5 cleavage. Mechanistically, the cleaved HDAC6 fragments (amino acids 1-519 and 520-1159) lost the ability to degrade PDCoV nsp8 due to their impaired deacetylase activity. Furthermore, nsp5-mediated cleavage impaired the ability of HDAC6 to activate RIG-I-mediated interferon responses. We also tested three other swine enteric coronaviruses (transmissible gastroenteritis virus, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, and swine acute diarrhea syndrome-coronavirus) and found that all these coronaviruses have adopted similar mechanisms to cleave HDAC6 in both an overexpression system and virus-infected cells, suggesting that cleavage of HDAC6 is a common strategy utilized by swine enteric coronaviruses to antagonize the host's antiviral capacity. Together, these data illustrate how swine enteric coronaviruses antagonize the antiviral function of HDAC6 to maintain their infection, providing new insights to the interaction between virus and host.IMPORTANCEViral infections and host defenses are in constant opposition. Once viruses combat or evade host restriction, productive infection is achieved. HDAC6 is a broad-spectrum antiviral protein that has been demonstrated to inhibit many viruses, including porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV). However, whether HDAC6 is reciprocally targeted and disabled by viruses remains unclear. In this study, we used PDCoV as a model and found that HDAC6 is targeted and cleaved by nsp5, a viral 3C-like protease. The cleaved HDAC6 loses its deacetylase activity as well as its ability to degrade viral proteins and activate interferon responses. Furthermore, this cleavage mechanism is shared among other swine enteric coronaviruses. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between viruses and HDAC6, highlighting the strategies employed by viruses to evade host antiviral defenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuang Li
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Wenwen Xiao
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhixiang Yang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Jiahui Guo
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Junwei Zhou
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Shaobo Xiao
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Puxian Fang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Liurong Fang
- National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
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4
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Moezzi MS. Comprehensive in silico screening of flavonoids against SARS-CoV-2 main protease. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2023; 41:9448-9461. [PMID: 36342071 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2142297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In the current pandemic caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), computational drug discovery can play an essential role in finding potential therapeutic agents. Thanks to its anti-viral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties, sage (Salvia officinalis) is used in traditional medicine. In this study, drugs proposed against COVID-19, including Lopinavir, Remdesivir, Favipiravir, and main flavonoids of sage, were docked favorably against novel coronavirus main protease. Molecular docking findings indicate that Rutin, Luteolin-7-glucoside, Apigenin, and Hispidulin make strong interactions with better binding affinity than selected commercial drugs in the study. But Rutin is the only flavonoid that makes strong hydrogen bond interactions with catalytic dyad and crucial Mpro residues and has more binding affinity than protease inhibitor PF-07321332 as an oral antiviral (PAXLOVID™). Further analysis of Molecular Dynamics and MM-PBSA predicted that chosen ligands could form stable complexes with the main protease. Also, ADMET analysis shows that main flavonoids are expected to have appropriate pharmacokinetic and no toxic properties. The results of the in silico study suggest that Salvia officinalis as a rich source of potent anti-coronavirus flavonoids may play a significant role in counteracting the replication of SARS-CoV-2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Sadat Moezzi
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
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5
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Narwal M, Armache JP, Edwards TJ, Murakami KS. SARS-CoV-2 polyprotein substrate regulates the stepwise M pro cleavage reaction. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:104697. [PMID: 37044215 PMCID: PMC10084705 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104697] [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: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The processing of the Coronavirus polyproteins pp1a and pp1ab by the main protease Mpro to produce mature proteins is a crucial event in virus replication and a promising target for antiviral drug development. Mpro cleaves polyproteins in a defined order, but how Mpro and/or the polyproteins determine the order of cleavage remains enigmatic due to a lack of structural information about polyprotein-bound Mpro. Here, we present the cryo-EM structures of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro in an apo form and in complex with the nsp7-10 region of the pp1a polyprotein. The complex structure shows that Mpro interacts with only the recognition site residues between nsp9 and nsp10, without any association with the rest of the polyprotein. Comparison between the apo form and polyprotein-bound structures of Mpro highlights the flexible nature of the active site region of Mpro, which allows it to accommodate 10 recognition sites found in the polyprotein. These observations suggest that the role of Mpro in selecting a preferred cleavage site is limited and underscore the roles of the structure, conformation and/or dynamics of the polyproteins in determining the sequence of polyprotein cleavage by Mpro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manju Narwal
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Jean-Paul Armache
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for Structural Biology, Huck Institute of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
| | - Thomas J Edwards
- National Cryo-EM Facility, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Leidos Biomedical Research Inc., Frederick, MD 21702, USA
| | - Katsuhiko S Murakami
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for Structural Biology, Huck Institute of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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Yadav R, Courouble VV, Dey SK, Harrison JJE, Timm J, Hopkins JB, Slack RL, Sarafianos SG, Ruiz FX, Griffin PR, Arnold E. Biochemical and structural insights into SARS-CoV-2 polyprotein processing by Mpro. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eadd2191. [PMID: 36490335 PMCID: PMC9733933 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add2191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, a human coronavirus, is the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its genome is translated into two large polyproteins subsequently cleaved by viral papain-like protease and main protease (Mpro). Polyprotein processing is essential yet incompletely understood. We studied Mpro-mediated processing of the nsp7-11 polyprotein, whose mature products include cofactors of the viral replicase, and identified the order of cleavages. Integrative modeling based on mass spectrometry (including hydrogen-deuterium exchange and cross-linking) and x-ray scattering yielded a nsp7-11 structural ensemble, demonstrating shared secondary structural elements with individual nsps. The pattern of cross-links and HDX footprint of the C145A Mpro and nsp7-11 complex demonstrate preferential binding of the enzyme active site to the polyprotein junction sites and additional transient contacts to help orient the enzyme on its substrate for cleavage. Last, proteolysis assays were used to characterize the effect of inhibitors/binders on Mpro processing/inhibition using the nsp7-11 polyprotein as substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruchi Yadav
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Valentine V. Courouble
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA
- Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Sanjay K. Dey
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | | | - Jennifer Timm
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Jesse B. Hopkins
- BioCAT, Department of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ryan L. Slack
- Division of Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology and Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Stefan G. Sarafianos
- Division of Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology and Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Francesc X. Ruiz
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Patrick R. Griffin
- Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA
- Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA
- Department of Molecular Medicine, UF Scripps Biomedical Research, University of Florida, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Eddy Arnold
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
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McCann N, Castellino FJ. Cell Entry and Unusual Replication of SARS-CoV-2. Curr Drug Targets 2022; 23:1539-1554. [PMID: 36239725 DOI: 10.2174/1389450124666221014102927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND SARS-CoV-2 is the causative virus for the CoVID-19 pandemic that has frequently mutated to continue to infect and resist available vaccines. Emerging new variants of the virus have complicated notions of immunity conferred by vaccines versus immunity that results from infection. While we continue to progress from epidemic to endemic as a result of this collective immunity, the pandemic remains a morbid and mortal problem. OBJECTIVE The SARS-CoV-2 virus has a very complex manner of replication. The spike protein, one of the four structural proteins of the encapsulated virus, is central to the ability of the virus to penetrate cells to replicate. The objective of this review is to summarize these complex features of viral replication. METHODS A review of the recent literature was performed on the biology of SARS-CoV-2 infection from published work from PubMed and works reported to preprint servers, e.g., bioRxiv and medRxiv. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION The complex molecular and cellular biology involved in SARS-CoV-2 replication and the origination of >30 proteins from a single open reading frame (ORF) have been summarized, as well as the structural biology of spike protein, a critical factor in the cellular entry of the virus, which is a necessary feature for it to replicate and cause disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan McCann
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and W.M. Keck Center for Transgene Research, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46530, USA
| | - Francis J Castellino
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and W.M. Keck Center for Transgene Research, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46530, USA
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Li Z, Fang P, Duan P, Chen J, Fang L, Xiao S. Porcine Deltacoronavirus Infection Cleaves HDAC2 to Attenuate Its Antiviral Activity. J Virol 2022; 96:e0102722. [PMID: 35916536 PMCID: PMC9400482 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01027-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein acetylation plays an important role during virus infection. Thus, it is not surprising that viruses always evolve elaborate mechanisms to regulate the functions of histone deacetylases (HDACs), the essential transcriptional and epigenetic regulators for deacetylation. Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), an emerging enteropathogenic coronavirus, causes severe diarrhea in suckling piglets and has the potential to infect humans. In this study, we found that PDCoV infection inhibited cellular HDAC activity. By screening the expressions of different HDAC subfamilies after PDCoV infection, we unexpectedly found that HDAC2 was cleaved. Ectopic expression of HDAC2 significantly inhibited PDCoV replication, while the reverse effects could be observed after treatment with an HDAC2 inhibitor (CAY10683) or the knockdown of HDAC2 expression by specific siRNA. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PDCoV-encoded nonstructural protein 5 (nsp5), a 3C-like protease, was responsible for HDAC2 cleavage through its protease activity. Detailed analyses showed that PDCoV nsp5 cleaved HDAC2 at glutamine 261 (Q261), and the cleaved fragments (amino acids 1 to 261 and 262 to 488) lost the ability to inhibit PDCoV replication. Interestingly, the Q261 cleavage site is highly conserved in HDAC2 homologs from other mammalian species, and the nsp5s encoded by seven tested mammalian coronaviruses also cleaved HDAC2, suggesting that cleaving HDAC2 may be a common strategy used by different mammalian coronaviruses to antagonize the antiviral role of HDAC2. IMPORTANCE As an emerging porcine enteropathogenic coronavirus that possesses the potential to infect humans, porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is receiving increasing attention. In this work, we found that PDCoV infection downregulated cellular histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity. Of particular interest, the viral 3C-like protease, encoded by the PDCoV nonstructural protein 5 (nsp5), cleaved HDAC2, and this cleavage could be observed in the context of PDCoV infection. Furthermore, the cleavage of HDAC2 appears to be a common strategy among mammalian coronaviruses, including the emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), to antagonize the antiviral role of HDAC2. To our knowledge, PDCoV nsp5 is the first identified viral protein that can cleave cellular HDAC2. Results from our study provide new targets to develop drugs combating coronavirus infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Puxian Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Panpan Duan
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Jiyao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Liurong Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
| | - Shaobo Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- The Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, China
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Ali F, Alom S, Shakya A, Ghosh SK, Singh UP, Bhat HR. Implication of in silico studies in the search for novel inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2. Arch Pharm (Weinheim) 2022; 355:e2100360. [PMID: 35244237 PMCID: PMC9073995 DOI: 10.1002/ardp.202100360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) is a pandemic disease mainly caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It had spread from Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and spread over 222 countries and territories all over the world. Earlier, at the very beginning of COVID-19 infection, there were no approved medicines or vaccines for combating this disease, which adversely affected a lot of individuals worldwide. Although frequent mutation leads to the generation of more deadly variants of SARS-CoV-2, researchers have developed several highly effective vaccines that were approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as mRNA-1273 by Moderna, BNT162b2 by Pfizer/BioNTech, Ad26.COV2.S by Janssen, AZD1222 by Oxford/AstraZeneca, Covishield by the Serum Institute of India, BBIBP-CorV by Sinopharm, coronaVac by Sinovac, and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, and the first US Food and Drug Administration-approved antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) for the treatment of COVID-19. Several waves of COVID-19 have already occurred worldwide, and good-quality vaccines and medicines should be available for ongoing as well as upcoming waves of the pandemic. Therefore, in silico studies have become an excellent tool for identifying possible ligands that could lead to the development of safer medicines or vaccines. Various phytoconstituents from plants and herbs with antiviral properties are studied further to obtain inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2. In silico screening of various molecular databases like PubChem, ZINC, Asinex Biol-Design Library, and so on has been performed extensively for finding effective ligands against targets. Herein, in silico studies carried out by various researchers are summarized so that one can easily find the best molecule for further in vitro and in vivo studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farak Ali
- Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical ScienceTezpur, SonitpurAssamIndia
| | - Shahnaz Alom
- Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical ScienceTezpur, SonitpurAssamIndia
| | - Anshul Shakya
- Department of Pharmaceutical SciencesDibrugarh UniversityDibrugarhAssamIndia
| | - Surajit K. Ghosh
- Department of Pharmaceutical SciencesDibrugarh UniversityDibrugarhAssamIndia
| | - Udaya P. Singh
- Drug Design & Discovery Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sam Higginbottom University of AgricultureTechnology & SciencesAllahabadUttar PradeshIndia
| | - Hans R. Bhat
- Department of Pharmaceutical SciencesDibrugarh UniversityDibrugarhAssamIndia
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10
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Surgical Strikes on Host Defenses: Role of the Viral Protease Activity in Innate Immune Antagonism. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11050522. [PMID: 35631043 PMCID: PMC9145062 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11050522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
As a frontline defense mechanism against viral infections, the innate immune system is the primary target of viral antagonism. A number of virulence factors encoded by viruses play roles in circumventing host defenses and augmenting viral replication. Among these factors are viral proteases, which are primarily responsible for maturation of viral proteins, but in addition cause proteolytic cleavage of cellular proteins involved in innate immune signaling. The study of these viral protease-mediated host cleavages has illuminated the intricacies of innate immune networks and yielded valuable insights into viral pathogenesis. In this review, we will provide a brief summary of how proteases of positive-strand RNA viruses, mainly from the Picornaviridae, Flaviviridae and Coronaviridae families, proteolytically process innate immune components and blunt their functions.
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11
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Coronaviruses Nsp5 Antagonizes Porcine Gasdermin D-Mediated Pyroptosis by Cleaving Pore-Forming p30 Fragment. mBio 2022; 13:e0273921. [PMID: 35012343 PMCID: PMC8749417 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02739-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a family of RNA viruses that typically cause respiratory, enteric, and hepatic diseases in animals and humans. Here, we use porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) as a model of CoVs to illustrate the reciprocal regulation between CoV infection and pyroptosis. For the first time, we elucidate the molecular mechanism of porcine gasdermin D (pGSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis and demonstrate that amino acids R238, T239, and F240 within pGSDMD-p30 are critical for pyroptosis. Furthermore, 3C-like protease Nsp5 from SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, PDCoV, and PEDV can cleave pGSDMD at the Q193-G194 junction to produce two fragments unable to trigger pyroptosis. The two cleaved fragments could not inhibit PEDV replication. In addition, Nsp5 from SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV also cleave human GSDMD (hGSDMD). Therefore, we provide clear evidence that PEDV may utilize the Nsp5-GSDMD pathway to inhibit pyroptosis and, thus, facilitate viral replication during the initial period, suggesting an important strategy for the coronaviruses to sustain their infection. IMPORTANCE Recently, GSDMD has been reported as a key executioner for pyroptosis. This study first demonstrates the molecular mechanism of pGSDMD-mediated pyroptosis and that the pGSDMD-mediated pyroptosis protects host cells against PEDV infection. Notably, PEDV employs its Nsp5 to directly cleave pGSDMD in favor of its replication. We found that Nsp5 proteins from other coronaviruses, such as porcine deltacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, also had the protease activity to cleave human and porcine GSDMD. Thus, we provide clear evidence that the coronaviruses might utilize Nsp5 to inhibit the host pyroptotic cell death and facilitate their replication during the initial period, an important strategy for their sustaining infection. We suppose that GSDMD is an appealing target for the design of anticoronavirus therapies.
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12
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Yin J, Li C, Ye C, Ruan Z, Liang Y, Li Y, Wu J, Luo Z. Advances in the development of therapeutic strategies against COVID-19 and perspectives in the drug design for emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:824-837. [PMID: 35126885 PMCID: PMC8802458 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Since Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in late 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged public health around the world. Currently, there is an urgent need to explore antiviral therapeutic targets and effective clinical drugs. In this study, we systematically summarized two main therapeutic strategies against COVID-19, namely drugs targeting the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle and SARS-CoV-2-induced inflammation in host cells. The development of above two strategies is implemented by repurposing drugs and exploring potential targets. A comprehensive summary of promising drugs, especially cytokine inhibitors, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), provides recommendations for clinicians as evidence-based medicine in the actual clinical COVID-19 treatment. Considering the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants greatly impact the effectiveness of drugs and vaccines, we reviewed the appearance and details of SARS-CoV-2 variants for further perspectives in drug design, which brings updating clues to develop therapeutical agents against the variants. Based on this, the development of broadly antiviral drugs, combined with immunomodulatory, or holistic therapy in the host, is prior to being considered for therapeutic interventions on mutant strains of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, it is highly acclaimed the requirements of the concerted efforts from multi-disciplinary basic studies and clinical trials, which improves the accurate treatment of COVID-19 and optimizes the contingency measures to emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Key Words
- ACE2, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2
- ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome
- CEP, Cepharanthine
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019
- CRS, cytokine release syndrome
- CTD, C-terminal domain
- Drug target
- EMA, European Medicines Agency
- ERGIC, endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment
- FDA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- JAK, Janus kinase
- MODS, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome
- NMPA, National Medical Products Administration
- NTD, N-terminal domain
- Nbs, nanobodies
- RBD, receptor-binding domain
- RdRp, RNA dependent RNA polymerase
- SARS-CoV-2
- SARS-CoV-2 variants
- SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
- STAT, Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription
- TCM, traditional Chinese medicine
- TCZ, Tocilizumab
- Therapeutic strategies
- VOC, variants of concern
- VOI, variants of interest
- VUM, variants under monitoring
- mAb, monoclonal antibody
- α1AT, alpha-1 antitrypsin
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialing Yin
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
| | - Chengcheng Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
| | - Chunhong Ye
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
| | - Zhihui Ruan
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
- Foshan Institute of Medical Microbiology, Foshan 528315, PR China
| | - Yicong Liang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
| | - Yongkui Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
| | - Jianguo Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
- Foshan Institute of Medical Microbiology, Foshan 528315, PR China
| | - Zhen Luo
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China
- Foshan Institute of Medical Microbiology, Foshan 528315, PR China
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13
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Chen GY, Pan YC, Wu TY, Yao TY, Wang WJ, Shen WJ, Ahmed A, Chan ST, Tang CH, Huang WC, Hung MC, Yang JC, Wu YC. Potential natural products that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein identified by structure-based virtual screening, isothermal titration calorimetry and lentivirus particles pseudotyped (Vpp) infection assay. J Tradit Complement Med 2022; 12:73-89. [PMID: 34549024 PMCID: PMC8443859 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2021.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters cells through the binding of the viral spike protein with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), resulting in the development of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To date, few antiviral drugs are available that can effectively block viral infection. This study aimed to identify potential natural products from Taiwan Database of Extracts and Compounds (TDEC) that may prevent the binding of viral spike proteins with human ACE2 proteins. METHODS The structure-based virtual screening was performed using the AutoDock Vina program within PyRX software, the binding affinities of compounds were verified using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), the inhibitions of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection efficacy were examined by lentivirus particles pseudotyped (Vpp) infection assay, and the cell viability was tested by 293T cell in MTT assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION We identified 39 natural products targeting the viral receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in silico. In ITC binding assay, dioscin, celastrol, saikosaponin C, epimedin C, torvoside K, and amentoflavone showed dissociation constant (K d) = 0.468 μM, 1.712 μM, 6.650 μM, 2.86 μM, 3.761 μM and 4.27 μM, respectively. In Vpp infection assay, the compounds have significantly and consistently inhibition with the 50-90% inhibition of viral infection efficacy. In cell viability, torvoside K, epimedin, amentoflavone, and saikosaponin C showed IC50 > 100 μM; dioscin and celastrol showed IC50 = 1.5625 μM and 0.9866 μM, respectively. These natural products may bind to the viral spike protein, preventing SARS-CoV-2 from entering cells. SECTION 1 Natural Products. TAXONOMY CLASSIFICATION BY EVISE SARS-CoV-2, Structure-Based Virtual Screening, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry and Lentivirus Particles Pseudotyped (Vpp) Infection Assay, in silico and in vitro study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guan-Yu Chen
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Cheng Pan
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
- Program for Cancer Biology and Drug Discovery, China Medical University and Academia Sinica, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Tung-Ying Wu
- Department of Biological Science & Technology, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Meiho University, Pingtung, Taiwan
| | - Tsung-You Yao
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
- School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Jan Wang
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, Research Center for Cancer Biology, New Drug Development Center, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Wan-Jou Shen
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Azaj Ahmed
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | | | - Chih-Hsin Tang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Chinese Medicine Research Center, Drug Development Center, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Chien Huang
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
- Chinese Medicine Research Center, Drug Development Center, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Mien-Chie Hung
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
- Department of Biological Science and Technology, Research Center for Cancer Biology, New Drug Development Center, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Juan-Cheng Yang
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Yang-Chang Wu
- Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Sex Hormone Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Molecular Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
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14
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Zakharova MY, Kuznetsova AA, Uvarova VI, Fomina AD, Kozlovskaya LI, Kaliberda EN, Kurbatskaia IN, Smirnov IV, Bulygin AA, Knorre VD, Fedorova OS, Varnek A, Osolodkin DI, Ishmukhametov AA, Egorov AM, Gabibov AG, Kuznetsov NA. Pre-Steady-State Kinetics of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease as a Powerful Tool for Antiviral Drug Discovery. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:773198. [PMID: 34938188 PMCID: PMC8686763 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.773198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The design of effective target-specific drugs for COVID-19 treatment has become an intriguing challenge for modern science. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease, Mpro, responsible for the processing of SARS-CoV-2 polyproteins and production of individual components of viral replication machinery, is an attractive candidate target for drug discovery. Specific Mpro inhibitors have turned out to be promising anticoronaviral agents. Thus, an effective platform for quantitative screening of Mpro-targeting molecules is urgently needed. Here, we propose a pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of the interaction of Mpro with inhibitors as a basis for such a platform. We examined the kinetic mechanism of peptide substrate binding and cleavage by wild-type Mpro and by its catalytically inactive mutant C145A. The enzyme induces conformational changes of the peptide during the reaction. The inhibition of Mpro by boceprevir, telaprevir, GC-376, PF-00835231, or thimerosal was investigated. Detailed pre-steady-state kinetics of the interaction of the wild-type enzyme with the most potent inhibitor, PF-00835231, revealed a two-step binding mechanism, followed by covalent complex formation. The C145A Mpro mutant interacts with PF-00835231 approximately 100-fold less effectively. Nevertheless, the binding constant of PF-00835231 toward C145A Mpro is still good enough to inhibit the enzyme. Therefore, our results suggest that even noncovalent inhibitor binding due to a fine conformational fit into the active site is sufficient for efficient inhibition. A structure-based virtual screening and a subsequent detailed assessment of inhibition efficacy allowed us to select two compounds as promising noncovalent inhibitor leads of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Yu Zakharova
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia.,Institute of Translational Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexandra A Kuznetsova
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch (SB) of RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Victoria I Uvarova
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), Moscow, Russia
| | - Anastasiia D Fomina
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), Moscow, Russia.,Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Liubov I Kozlovskaya
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), Moscow, Russia.,Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena N Kaliberda
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Inna N Kurbatskaia
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Ivan V Smirnov
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia.,Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anatoly A Bulygin
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch (SB) of RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Vera D Knorre
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga S Fedorova
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch (SB) of RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Alexandre Varnek
- Laboratoire de Chémoinformatique, UMR 7140 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Dmitry I Osolodkin
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), Moscow, Russia.,Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.,Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Aydar A Ishmukhametov
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), Moscow, Russia.,Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexey M Egorov
- FSASI "Chumakov FSC R&D IBP RAS" (Institute of Poliomyelitis), Moscow, Russia.,Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander G Gabibov
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia.,Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.,Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nikita A Kuznetsov
- Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch (SB) of RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia.,Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
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15
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Multi-level inhibition of coronavirus replication by chemical ER stress. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5536. [PMID: 34545074 PMCID: PMC8452654 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25551-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are important human pathogens for which no specific treatment is available. Here, we provide evidence that pharmacological reprogramming of ER stress pathways can be exploited to suppress CoV replication. The ER stress inducer thapsigargin efficiently inhibits coronavirus (HCoV-229E, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2) replication in different cell types including primary differentiated human bronchial epithelial cells, (partially) reverses the virus-induced translational shut-down, improves viability of infected cells and counteracts the CoV-mediated downregulation of IRE1α and the ER chaperone BiP. Proteome-wide analyses revealed specific pathways, protein networks and components that likely mediate the thapsigargin-induced antiviral state, including essential (HERPUD1) or novel (UBA6 and ZNF622) factors of ER quality control, and ER-associated protein degradation complexes. Additionally, thapsigargin blocks the CoV-induced selective autophagic flux involving p62/SQSTM1. The data show that thapsigargin hits several central mechanisms required for CoV replication, suggesting that this compound (or derivatives thereof) may be developed into broad-spectrum anti-CoV drugs.
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16
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Havranek B, Islam SM. An in silico approach for identification of novel inhibitors as potential therapeutics targeting COVID-19 main protease. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2021; 39:4304-4315. [PMID: 32544024 PMCID: PMC7309303 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1776158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has been labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Very little is known about the infection mechanism for this virus. More importantly, there are no drugs or vaccines that can cure or prevent a person from getting COVID-19. In this study, the binding affinity of 2692 protease inhibitor compounds that are known in the protein data bank, are calculated against the main protease of the novel coronavirus with docking and molecular dynamics (MD). Both the docking and MD methods predict the macrocyclic tissue factor-factor VIIa (PubChem ID: 118098670) inhibitor to bind strongly with the main protease with a binding affinity of -10.6 and -10.0 kcal/mol, respectively. The TF-FVIIa inhibitors are known to prevent the coagulation of blood and have antiviral activity as shown in the case of SARS coronavirus. Two more inhibitors, phenyltriazolinones (PubChem ID: 104161460) and allosteric HCV NS5B polymerase thumb pocket 2 (PubChem ID: 163632044) have shown antiviral activity and also have high affinity towards the main protease of COVID-19. Furthermore, these inhibitors interact with the catalytic dyad in the active site of the COVID-19 main protease that is especially important in viral replication. The calculated theoretical dissociation constants of the proposed COVID-19 inhibitors are found to be very similar to the experimental dissociation constant values of similar protease-inhibitor systems.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon Havranek
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Shahidul M. Islam
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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17
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Min YQ, Huang M, Sun X, Deng F, Wang H, Ning YJ. Immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2 from interferon antiviral system. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:4217-4225. [PMID: 34336145 PMCID: PMC8310780 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.07.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The on-going pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to unprecedented medical and socioeconomic crises. Although the viral pathogenesis remains elusive, deficiency of effective antiviral interferon (IFN) responses upon SARS-CoV-2 infection has been recognized as a hallmark of COVID-19 contributing to the disease pathology and progress. Recently, multiple proteins encoded by SARS-CoV-2 have been shown to act as potential IFN antagonists with diverse possible mechanisms. Here, we summarize and discuss the strategies of SARS-CoV-2 for evasion of innate immunity (particularly the antiviral IFN responses), understanding of which will facilitate not only the elucidation of SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenesis but also the development of antiviral intervention therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan-Qin Min
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
- Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
| | - Mengzhuo Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
| | - Xiulian Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
- Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
| | - Fei Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
- Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
| | - Hualin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
- Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
| | - Yun-Jia Ning
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
- Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071/430207, China
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18
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Ayatollahi SA, Sharifi-Rad J, Tsouh Fokou PV, Mahady GB, Ansar Rasul Suleria H, Krishna Kapuganti S, Gadhave K, Giri R, Garg N, Sharma R, Ribeiro D, Rodrigues CF, Reiner Ž, Taheri Y, Cruz-Martins N. Naturally Occurring Bioactives as Antivirals: Emphasis on Coronavirus Infection. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:575877. [PMID: 34267652 PMCID: PMC8277242 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.575877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is a significant threat to human health and the worldwide economy. Coronaviruses cause a variety of diseases, such as pneumonia-like upper respiratory tract illnesses, gastroenteritis, encephalitis, multiple organ failure involving lungs and kidneys which might cause death. Since the pandemic started there have been more than 107 million COVID-19 infections caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and ∼2.4 million deaths globally. SARS-CoV-2 is easily transmitted from person-to-person and has spread quickly across all continents. With the continued increase in morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19, and the damage to the global economy, there is an urgent need for effective prevention and treatment strategies. The advent of safe and effective vaccines has been a significant step forward in the battle against COVID-19, however treatment of the symptoms associated with the disease still requires new anti-viral and anti-inflammatory drug therapies. To this end, scientists have been investigating available natural products that may be effective against SARS-CoV-2, with some products showing promise in fighting several viral infections. Since many natural products are dietary components or are prepared as dietary supplements people tend to consider them safer than synthetic drugs. For example, Traditional Chinese Medicines have been effectively utilized to treat SARS-CoV-2 infected patients with promising results. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of COVID-19 therapies and the therapeutic potential of medicinal plant extracts and natural compounds for the treatment of several viral infections, with special emphasis on SARS-CoV-2 infection. Realistic strategies that can be employed for the effective use of bioactive compounds for anti-SARS-CoV-2 research are also provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Abdulmajid Ayatollahi
- Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Pharmacognosy and Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Javad Sharifi-Rad
- Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Gail B. Mahady
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | | | | | - Kundlik Gadhave
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Mandi, India
| | - Rajanish Giri
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Mandi, India
| | - Neha Garg
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Rohit Sharma
- Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Daniel Ribeiro
- Northern Superior Health School of the Portuguese Red Cross, Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal
- Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra, Gandra, Portugal
| | - Célia F. Rodrigues
- LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Željko Reiner
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Yasaman Taheri
- Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Natália Cruz-Martins
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Department of Biomedicine/Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Institute for Research and Innovation in Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
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19
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Barrantes FJ. The Contribution of Biophysics and Structural Biology to Current Advances in COVID-19. Annu Rev Biophys 2021; 50:493-523. [PMID: 33957057 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-102620-080956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Critical to viral infection are the multiple interactions between viral proteins and host-cell counterparts. The first such interaction is the recognition of viral envelope proteins by surface receptors that normally fulfil other physiological roles, a hijacking mechanism perfected over the course of evolution. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has successfully adopted this strategy using its spike glycoprotein to dock on the membrane-bound metalloprotease angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The crystal structures of several SARS-CoV-2 proteins alone or in complex with their receptors or other ligands were recently solved at an unprecedented pace. This accomplishment is partly due to the increasing availability of data on other coronaviruses and ACE2 over the past 18 years. Likewise, other key intervening actors and mechanisms of viral infection were elucidated with the aid of biophysical approaches. An understanding of the various structurally important motifs of the interacting partners provides key mechanistic information for the development of structure-based designer drugs able to inhibit various steps of the infective cycle, including neutralizing antibodies, small organic drugs, and vaccines. This review analyzes current progress and the outlook for future structural studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco J Barrantes
- Biomedical Research Institute (BIOMED), Catholic University of Argentina (UCA)-National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina (CONICET), C1107AFF Buenos Aires, Argentina;
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20
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A comparative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 antivirals characterizes 3CL pro inhibitor PF-00835231 as a potential new treatment for COVID-19. J Virol 2021; 95:JVI.01819-20. [PMID: 33622961 PMCID: PMC8139662 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01819-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is a dire need for novel effective antivirals to treat COVID-19, as the only approved direct-acting antiviral to date is remdesivir, targeting the viral polymerase complex. A potential alternate target in the viral life cycle is the main SARS-CoV-2 protease 3CLpro (Mpro). The drug candidate PF-00835231 is the active compound of the first anti-3CLpro regimen in clinical trials. Here, we perform a comparative analysis of PF-00835231, the pre-clinical 3CLpro inhibitor GC-376, and the polymerase inhibitor remdesivir, in alveolar basal epithelial cells modified to express ACE2 (A549+ACE2 cells). We find PF-00835231 with at least similar or higher potency than remdesivir or GC-376. A time-of-drug-addition approach delineates the timing of early SARS-CoV-2 life cycle steps in A549+ACE2 cells and validates PF-00835231's early time of action. In a model of the human polarized airway epithelium, both PF-00835231 and remdesivir potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 at low micromolar concentrations. Finally, we show that the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein, which was previously suggested to diminish PF-00835231's efficacy based on experiments in monkey kidney Vero E6 cells, does not negatively impact PF-00835231 efficacy in either A549+ACE2 cells or human polarized airway epithelial cultures. Thus, our study provides in vitro evidence for the potential of PF-00835231 as an effective SARS-CoV-2 antiviral and addresses concerns that emerged based on prior studies in non-human in vitro models.Importance:The arsenal of SARS-CoV-2 specific antiviral drugs is extremely limited. Only one direct-acting antiviral drug is currently approved, the viral polymerase inhibitor remdesivir, and it has limited efficacy. Thus, there is a substantial need to develop additional antiviral compounds with minimal side effects and alternate viral targets. One such alternate target is its main protease, 3CLpro (Mpro), an essential component of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle processing the viral polyprotein into the components of the viral polymerase complex. In this study, we characterize a novel antiviral drug, PF-00835231, which is the active component of the first-in-class 3CLpro-targeting regimen in clinical trials. Using 3D in vitro models of the human airway epithelium, we demonstrate the antiviral potential of PF-00835231 for inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.
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21
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Kevadiya BD, Machhi J, Herskovitz J, Oleynikov MD, Blomberg WR, Bajwa N, Soni D, Das S, Hasan M, Patel M, Senan AM, Gorantla S, McMillan J, Edagwa B, Eisenberg R, Gurumurthy CB, Reid SPM, Punyadeera C, Chang L, Gendelman HE. Pharmacotherapeutics of SARS-CoV-2 Infections. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2021; 16:12-37. [PMID: 33403500 PMCID: PMC7785334 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-020-09968-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 38 million people world-wide by person to person transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Therapeutic and preventative strategies for SARS-CoV-2 remains a significant challenge. Within the past several months, effective treatment options have emerged and now include repurposed antivirals, corticosteroids and virus-specific antibodies. The latter has included convalescence plasma and monoclonal antibodies. Complete viral eradication will be achieved through an effective, safe and preventative vaccine. To now provide a comprehensive summary for each of the pharmacotherapeutics and preventative strategies being offered or soon to be developed for SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavesh D Kevadiya
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA.
| | - Jatin Machhi
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - Jonathan Herskovitz
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Maxim D Oleynikov
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - Wilson R Blomberg
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - Neha Bajwa
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, Pb, India
| | - Dhruvkumar Soni
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Srijanee Das
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Mahmudul Hasan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Milankumar Patel
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - Ahmed M Senan
- Glycomics and Glycan Bioengineering Research Center (GGBRC), College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 20095, China
| | - Santhi Gorantla
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - JoEllyn McMillan
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - Benson Edagwa
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | | | - Channabasavaiah B Gurumurthy
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
| | - St Patrick M Reid
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
| | - Chamindie Punyadeera
- The School of Biomedical Sciences and the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology and the Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Linda Chang
- Departments of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, and Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Howard E Gendelman
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5880, USA
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA
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22
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de Vries M, Mohamed AS, Prescott RA, Valero-Jimenez AM, Desvignes L, O’Connor R, Steppan C, Devlin JC, Ivanova E, Herrera A, Schinlever A, Loose P, Ruggles K, Koralov SB, Anderson AS, Binder J, Dittmann M. A comparative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 antivirals in human airway models characterizes 3CL pro inhibitor PF-00835231 as a potential new treatment for COVID-19. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2021:2020.08.28.272880. [PMID: 32869028 PMCID: PMC7457613 DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.28.272880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is a dire need for novel effective antivirals to treat COVID-19, as the only approved direct-acting antiviral to date is remdesivir, targeting the viral polymerase complex. A potential alternate target in the viral life cycle is the main SARS-CoV-2 protease 3CLpro (Mpro). The drug candidate PF-00835231 is the active compound of the first anti-3CLpro regimen in clinical trials. Here, we perform a comparative analysis of PF-00835231, the pre-clinical 3CLpro inhibitor GC-376, and the polymerase inhibitor remdesivir, in alveolar basal epithelial cells modified to express ACE2 (A549+ACE2 cells). We find PF-00835231 with at least similar or higher potency than remdesivir or GC-376. A time-of-drug-addition approach delineates the timing of early SARS-CoV-2 life cycle steps in A549+ACE2 cells and validates PF-00835231's early time of action. In a model of the human polarized airway epithelium, both PF-00835231 and remdesivir potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 at low micromolar concentrations. Finally, we show that the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein, which was previously suggested to diminish PF-00835231's efficacy based on experiments in monkey kidney Vero E6 cells, does not negatively impact PF-00835231 efficacy in either A549+ACE2 cells or human polarized airway epithelial cultures. Thus, our study provides in vitro evidence for the potential of PF-00835231 as an effective SARS-CoV-2 antiviral and addresses concerns that emerged based on prior studies in non-human in vitro models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maren de Vries
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Adil S Mohamed
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Rachel A Prescott
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
- Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Ana M Valero-Jimenez
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Ludovic Desvignes
- Department of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
- Office of Science & Research, NYU Langone Health, New York 10016, USA
| | | | | | - Joseph C Devlin
- Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
- Institute of Systems Genetics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Ellie Ivanova
- Department of Pathology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Alberto Herrera
- Department of Pathology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Austin Schinlever
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
- Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Paige Loose
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Kelly Ruggles
- Institute of Systems Genetics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | - Sergei B Koralov
- Department of Pathology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
| | | | - Joseph Binder
- Pfizer Oncology Research and Development, San Diego, CA 92128, USA
| | - Meike Dittmann
- Department of Microbiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York 10016, USA
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23
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Coronavirus replication-transcription complex: Vital and selective NMPylation of a conserved site in nsp9 by the NiRAN-RdRp subunit. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2022310118. [PMID: 33472860 PMCID: PMC8017715 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2022310118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRps) of the Nidovirales (Coronaviridae, Arteriviridae, and 12 other families) are linked to an amino-terminal (N-terminal) domain, called NiRAN, in a nonstructural protein (nsp) that is released from polyprotein 1ab by the viral main protease (Mpro). Previously, self-GMPylation/UMPylation activities were reported for an arterivirus NiRAN-RdRp nsp and suggested to generate a transient state primed for transferring nucleoside monophosphate (NMP) to (currently unknown) viral and/or cellular biopolymers. Here, we show that the coronavirus (human coronavirus [HCoV]-229E and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) nsp12 (NiRAN-RdRp) has Mn2+-dependent NMPylation activity that catalyzes the transfer of a single NMP to the cognate nsp9 by forming a phosphoramidate bond with the primary amine at the nsp9 N terminus (N3825) following Mpro-mediated proteolytic release of nsp9 from N-terminally flanking nsps. Uridine triphosphate was the preferred nucleotide in this reaction, but also adenosine triphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, and cytidine triphosphate were suitable cosubstrates. Mutational studies using recombinant coronavirus nsp9 and nsp12 proteins and genetically engineered HCoV-229E mutants identified residues essential for NiRAN-mediated nsp9 NMPylation and virus replication in cell culture. The data corroborate predictions on NiRAN active-site residues and establish an essential role for the nsp9 N3826 residue in both nsp9 NMPylation in vitro and virus replication. This residue is part of a conserved N-terminal NNE tripeptide sequence and shown to be the only invariant residue in nsp9 and its homologs in viruses of the family Coronaviridae The study provides a solid basis for functional studies of other nidovirus NMPylation activities and suggests a possible target for antiviral drug development.
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24
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Hosseini M, Chen W, Xiao D, Wang C. Computational molecular docking and virtual screening revealed promising SARS-CoV-2 drugs. PRECISION CLINICAL MEDICINE 2021; 4:1-16. [PMID: 33842834 PMCID: PMC7928605 DOI: 10.1093/pcmedi/pbab001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rampaged the world, with more than 58.4 million confirmed cases and over 1.38 million deaths across the world by 23 November 2020. There is an urgent need to identify effective drugs and vaccines to fight against the virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) belongs to the family of coronaviruses consisting of four structural and 16 non-structural proteins (NSP). Three non-structural proteins, main protease (Mpro), papain-like protease (PLpro), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), are believed to have a crucial role in replication of the virus. We applied computational ligand-receptor binding modeling and performed comprehensive virtual screening on FDA-approved drugs against these three SARS-CoV-2 proteins using AutoDock Vina, Glide, and rDock. Our computational studies identified six novel ligands as potential inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2, including antiemetics rolapitant and ondansetron for Mpro; labetalol and levomefolic acid for PLpro; and leucal and antifungal natamycin for RdRp. Molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the stability of the ligand-protein complexes. The results of our analysis with some other suggested drugs indicated that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine had high binding energy (low inhibitory effect) with all three proteins-Mpro, PLpro, and RdRp. In summary, our computational molecular docking approach and virtual screening identified some promising candidate SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors that may be considered for further clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Hosseini
- Center for Genomics, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
| | - Wanqiu Chen
- Center for Genomics, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
| | - Daliao Xiao
- Lawrence D. Longo, MD Center for Perinatal Biology, Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
| | - Charles Wang
- Center for Genomics, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
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25
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Characterization of Self-Processing Activities and Substrate Specificities of Porcine Torovirus 3C-Like Protease. J Virol 2020; 94:JVI.01282-20. [PMID: 32727876 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01282-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The 3C-like protease (3CLpro) of nidovirus plays an important role in viral replication and manipulation of host antiviral innate immunity, which makes it an ideal antiviral target. Here, we characterized that porcine torovirus (PToV; family Tobaniviridae, order Nidovirales) 3CLpro autocatalytically releases itself from the viral precursor protein by self-cleavage. Site-directed mutagenesis suggested that PToV 3CLpro, as a serine protease, employed His53 and Ser160 as the active-site residues. Interestingly, unlike most nidovirus 3CLpro, the P1 residue plays a less essential role in N-terminal self-cleavage of PToV 3CLpro Substituting either P1 or P4 residue of substrate alone has little discernible effect on N-terminal cleavage. Notably, replacement of the two residues together completely blocks N-terminal cleavage, suggesting that N-terminal self-cleavage of PToV 3CLpro is synergistically affected by both P1 and P4 residues. Using a cyclized luciferase-based biosensor, we systematically scanned the polyproteins for cleavage sites and identified (FXXQ↓A/S) as the main consensus sequences. Subsequent homology modeling and biochemical experiments suggested that the protease formed putative pockets S1 and S4 between the substrate. Indeed, mutants of both predicted S1 (D159A, H174A) and S4 (P62G/L185G) pockets completely lost the ability of cleavage activity of PToV 3CLpro In conclusion, the characterization of self-processing activities and substrate specificities of PToV 3CLpro will offer helpful information for the mechanism of nidovirus 3C-like proteinase's substrate specificities and the rational development of the antinidovirus drugs.IMPORTANCE Currently, the active-site residues and substrate specificities of 3C-like protease (3CLpro) differ among nidoviruses, and the detailed catalytic mechanism remains largely unknown. Here, porcine torovirus (PToV) 3CLpro cleaves 12 sites in the polyproteins, including its N- and C-terminal self-processing sites. Unlike coronaviruses and arteriviruses, PToV 3CLpro employed His53 and Ser160 as the active-site residues that recognize a glutamine (Gln) at the P1 position. Surprisingly, mutations of P1-Gln impaired the C-terminal self-processing but did not affect N-terminal self-processing. The "noncanonical" substrate specificity for its N-terminal self-processing was attributed to the phenylalanine (Phe) residue at the P4 position in the N-terminal site. Furthermore, a double glycine (neutral) substitution at the putative P4-Phe-binding residues (P62G/L185G) abolished the cleavage activity of PToV 3CLpro suggested the potential hydrophobic force between the PToV 3CLpro and P4-Phe side chains.
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26
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Peña López BO, Rincón Orozco B, Castillo León JJ. SARS-CoV-2: generalidades bioquímicas y métodos de diagnóstico. NOVA 2020. [DOI: 10.22490/24629448.4183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
El 31 de diciembre de 2019 la comisión municipal de salud de Wuhan (provincia de Hubei, China) informa sobre un inusitado brote de casos de neumonía en la ciudad. Posteriormente se determina que se trata de un nuevo coronavirus designado inicialmente como 2019-nCoV y posteriormente, SARS-CoV-2. El SARS-CoV-2 infecta y se replica en los neumocitos y macrófagos del sistema respiratorio específicamente en el parénquima pulmonar en donde reside el receptor celular ACE-2. Esta revisión describe aspectos relacionados con la transmisión, prevención, generalidades bioquímicas del SARS-CoV-2 y métodos diagnósticos del COVID-19. Inicialmente se describe la forma de transmisión del virus y algunas recomendaciones generales para su prevención. Posteriormente, se hace una descripción detallada de los aspectos bioquímicos del SARS-CoV-2, su ciclo infeccioso y la estructura de la proteína S, la cual está involucrada con el proceso de ingreso del virus a la célula. Finalmente, se describen los métodos y pruebas de laboratorio para el diagnóstico del COVID-19.
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27
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Alves VM, Bobrowski T, Melo-Filho CC, Korn D, Auerbach S, Schmitt C, Muratov EN, Tropsha A. QSAR Modeling of SARS-CoV M pro Inhibitors Identifies Sufugolix, Cenicriviroc, Proglumetacin, and other Drugs as Candidates for Repurposing against SARS-CoV-2. Mol Inform 2020; 40:e2000113. [PMID: 33405340 DOI: 10.1002/minf.202000113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro) of the SARS-CoV-2 has been proposed as one of the major drug targets for COVID-19. We have identified the experimental data on the inhibitory activity of compounds tested against the closely related (96 % sequence identity, 100 % active site conservation) Mpro of SARS-CoV. We developed QSAR models of these inhibitors and employed these models for virtual screening of all drugs in the DrugBank database. Similarity searching and molecular docking were explored in parallel, but docking failed to correctly discriminate between experimentally active and inactive compounds, so it was not relied upon for prospective virtual screening. Forty-two compounds were identified by our models as consensus computational hits. Subsequent to our computational studies, NCATS reported the results of experimental screening of their drug collection in SARS-CoV-2 cytopathic effect assay (https://opendata.ncats.nih.gov/covid19/). Coincidentally, NCATS tested 11 of our 42 hits, and three of them, cenicriviroc (AC50 of 8.9 μM), proglumetacin (tested twice independently, with AC50 of 8.9 μM and 12.5 μM), and sufugolix (AC50 12.6 μM), were shown to be active. These observations support the value of our modeling approaches and models for guiding the experimental investigations of putative anti-COVID-19 drug candidates. All data and models used in this study are publicly available via Supplementary Materials, GitHub (https://github.com/alvesvm/sars-cov-mpro), and Chembench web portal (https://chembench.mml.unc.edu/).
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius M Alves
- Office of Data Science, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Tesia Bobrowski
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Beard Hall, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Cleber C Melo-Filho
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Beard Hall, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Daniel Korn
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Beard Hall, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Scott Auerbach
- Toxinformatics Group, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Charles Schmitt
- Office of Data Science, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Eugene N Muratov
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Beard Hall, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Paraiba, Joao Pessoa, PB, Brazil
| | - Alexander Tropsha
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Beard Hall, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
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Porcine Deltacoronavirus nsp5 Cleaves DCP1A To Decrease Its Antiviral Activity. J Virol 2020; 94:JVI.02162-19. [PMID: 32461317 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02162-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging swine enteropathogenic coronavirus. The nonstructural protein nsp5, also called 3C-like protease, is responsible for processing viral polyprotein precursors in coronavirus (CoV) replication. Previous studies have shown that PDCoV nsp5 cleaves the NF-κB essential modulator and the signal transducer and activator of transcription 2 to disrupt interferon (IFN) production and signaling, respectively. Whether PDCoV nsp5 also cleaves IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), IFN-induced antiviral effector molecules, remains unclear. In this study, we screened 14 classical ISGs and found that PDCoV nsp5 cleaved the porcine mRNA-decapping enzyme 1a (pDCP1A) through its protease activity. Similar cleavage of endogenous pDCP1A was also observed in PDCoV-infected cells. PDCoV nsp5 cleaved pDCP1A at glutamine 343 (Q343), and the cleaved pDCP1A fragments, pDCP1A1-343 and pDCP1A344-580, were unable to inhibit PDCoV infection. Mutant pDCP1A-Q343A, which resists nsp5-mediated cleavage, exhibited a stronger ability to inhibit PDCoV infection than wild-type pDCP1A. Interestingly, the Q343 cleavage site is highly conserved in DCP1A homologs from other mammalian species. Further analyses demonstrated that nsp5 encoded by seven tested CoVs that can infect human or pig also cleaved pDCP1A and human DCP1A, suggesting that DCP1A may be the common target for cleavage by nsp5 of mammalian CoVs.IMPORTANCE Interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene (ISG) induction through IFN signaling is important to create an antiviral state and usually directly inhibits virus infection. The present study first demonstrated that PDCoV nsp5 can cleave mRNA-decapping enzyme 1a (DCP1A) to attenuate its antiviral activity. Furthermore, cleaving DCP1A is a common characteristic of nsp5 proteins from different coronaviruses (CoVs), which represents a common immune evasion mechanism of CoVs. Previous evidence showed that CoV nsp5 cleaves the NF-κB essential modulator and signal transducer and activator of transcription 2. Taken together, CoV nsp5 is a potent IFN antagonist because it can simultaneously target different aspects of the host IFN system, including IFN production and signaling and effector molecules.
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29
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Processing of the SARS-CoV pp1a/ab nsp7-10 region. Biochem J 2020; 477:1009-1019. [PMID: 32083638 PMCID: PMC7078746 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20200029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus is the causative agent of a respiratory disease with a high case fatality rate. During the formation of the coronaviral replication/transcription complex, essential steps include processing of the conserved polyprotein nsp7-10 region by the main protease Mpro and subsequent complex formation of the released nsp's. Here, we analyzed processing of the coronavirus nsp7-10 region using native mass spectrometry showing consumption of substrate, rise and fall of intermediate products and complexation. Importantly, there is a clear order of cleavage efficiencies, which is influenced by the polyprotein tertiary structure. Furthermore, the predominant product is an nsp7+8(2 : 2) hetero-tetramer with nsp8 scaffold. In conclusion, native MS, opposed to other methods, can expose the processing dynamics of viral polyproteins and the landscape of protein interactions in one set of experiments. Thereby, new insights into protein interactions, essential for generation of viral progeny, were provided, with relevance for development of antivirals.
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Li Y, Yang X, Wang N, Wang H, Yin B, Yang X, Jiang W. The divergence between SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 might be overestimated due to the extensive RNA modification. Future Virol 2020. [PMCID: PMC7346715 DOI: 10.2217/fvl-2020-0066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Aim: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout the world. There is urgent need to understand the phylogeny, divergence and origin of SARS-CoV-2. Materials & methods: A recent study claimed that there was 17% divergence between SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 (a SARS-related coronaviruses) on synonymous sites by using sequence alignment. We re-analyzed the sequences of the two coronaviruses with the same methodology. Results: We found that 87% of the synonymous substitutions between the two coronaviruses could be potentially explained by the RNA modification system in hosts, with 65% contributed by deamination on cytidines (C-T mismatches) and 22% contributed by deamination on adenosines (A-G mismatches). Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the divergence between SARS-CoV-2 and RaTG13 has been overestimated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Li
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
| | - Xinai Yang
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
| | - Na Wang
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
| | - Haiyan Wang
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
| | - Bin Yin
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
| | - Xiaoping Yang
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
| | - Wenqing Jiang
- Department of Respiratory Diseases, Qingdao Haici Hospital, PR China
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Bobrowski T, Alves VM, Melo-Filho CC, Korn D, Auerbach S, Schmitt C, Muratov EN, Tropsha A. Computational Models Identify Several FDA Approved or Experimental Drugs as Putative Agents Against SARS-CoV-2. CHEMRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR CHEMISTRY 2020:12153594. [PMID: 32511287 PMCID: PMC7252448 DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.12153594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The outbreak of a novel human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved into global health emergency, infecting hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. We have identified experimental data on the inhibitory activity of compounds tested against closely related (96% sequence identity, 100% active site conservation) protease of SARS-CoV and employed this data to build QSAR models for this dataset. We employed these models for virtual screening of all drugs from DrugBank, including compounds in clinical trials. Molecular docking and similarity search approaches were explored in parallel with QSAR modeling, but molecular docking failed to correctly discriminate between experimentally active and inactive compounds. As a result of our studies, we recommended 41 approved, experimental, or investigational drugs as potential agents against SARS-CoV-2 acting as putative inhibitors of Mpro. Ten compounds with feasible prices were purchased and are awaiting the experimental validation. .
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Affiliation(s)
- Tesia Bobrowski
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Vinicius M. Alves
- Office of Data Science, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Cleber C. Melo-Filho
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Daniel Korn
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Scott Auerbach
- Toxinformatics Group, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Charles Schmitt
- Office of Data Science, National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Morrisville, NC, 27560, USA
| | - Eugene N. Muratov
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Alexander Tropsha
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
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Xiao-Yu C, Yong Z, Xin C, Jian Z, Xian-Dong Z, Feng J, Li-Ming X. Isolation and genetic analysis of a nidovirus from crucian carp (Carassius auratus). Arch Virol 2019; 164:1651-1654. [PMID: 30900071 DOI: 10.1007/s00705-019-04221-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
A nidovirus was isolated from crucian carp (Carassius auratus). The complete genome of the crucian carp nidovirus (CCNV) is 25,971 nt long and has five open reading frames, encoding the polyprotein 1ab (pp1ab), spike glycoprotein (S), membrane protein (M), and nucleocapsid protein (N). CCNV has the highest similarity to Chinook salmon nidovirus (CSNV). However, the CCNV HB93 pp1ab protein sequence has three long fragment deletions compared with the CSNV. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete genome sequence showed that CCNV HB93 clusters with CSNV, indicating that CCNV represents a second species in the new genus Oncotshavirus within the new family Tobaniviridae in the order Nidovirales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Xiao-Yu
- Heilongjiang River Fishery Research Institute Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Harbin, 150070, People's Republic of China
- Wuhan Customs District P.R. China, Wuhan, 430050, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhou Yong
- Yangzi River Fishery Research Institute Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, People's Republic of China
| | - Chen Xin
- Wuhan Customs District P.R. China, Wuhan, 430050, People's Republic of China
| | - Zheng Jian
- Wuhan Customs District P.R. China, Wuhan, 430050, People's Republic of China
| | - Zeng Xian-Dong
- Wuhan Customs District P.R. China, Wuhan, 430050, People's Republic of China
| | - Ji Feng
- Heilongjiang River Fishery Research Institute Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Harbin, 150070, People's Republic of China
| | - Xu Li-Ming
- Heilongjiang River Fishery Research Institute Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Harbin, 150070, People's Republic of China.
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Müller C, Hardt M, Schwudke D, Neuman BW, Pleschka S, Ziebuhr J. Inhibition of Cytosolic Phospholipase A 2α Impairs an Early Step of Coronavirus Replication in Cell Culture. J Virol 2018; 92:e01463-17. [PMID: 29167338 PMCID: PMC5790932 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01463-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus replication is associated with intracellular membrane rearrangements in infected cells, resulting in the formation of double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) and other membranous structures that are referred to as replicative organelles (ROs). The latter provide a structural scaffold for viral replication/transcription complexes (RTCs) and help to sequester RTC components from recognition by cellular factors involved in antiviral host responses. There is increasing evidence that plus-strand RNA (+RNA) virus replication, including RO formation and virion morphogenesis, affects cellular lipid metabolism and critically depends on enzymes involved in lipid synthesis and processing. Here, we investigated the role of cytosolic phospholipase A2α (cPLA2α) in coronavirus replication using a low-molecular-weight nonpeptidic inhibitor, pyrrolidine-2 (Py-2). The inhibition of cPLA2α activity, which produces lysophospholipids (LPLs) by cleaving at the sn-2 position of phospholipids, had profound effects on viral RNA and protein accumulation in human coronavirus 229E-infected Huh-7 cells. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that DMV formation in infected cells was significantly reduced in the presence of the inhibitor. Furthermore, we found that (i) viral RTCs colocalized with LPL-containing membranes, (ii) cellular LPL concentrations were increased in coronavirus-infected cells, and (iii) this increase was diminished in the presence of the cPLA2α inhibitor Py-2. Py-2 also displayed antiviral activities against other viruses representing the Coronaviridae and Togaviridae families, while members of the Picornaviridae were not affected. Taken together, the study provides evidence that cPLA2α activity is critically involved in the replication of various +RNA virus families and may thus represent a candidate target for broad-spectrum antiviral drug development.IMPORTANCE Examples of highly conserved RNA virus proteins that qualify as drug targets for broad-spectrum antivirals remain scarce, resulting in increased efforts to identify and specifically inhibit cellular functions that are essential for the replication of RNA viruses belonging to different genera and families. The present study supports and extends previous conclusions that enzymes involved in cellular lipid metabolism may be tractable targets for broad-spectrum antivirals. We obtained evidence to show that a cellular phospholipase, cPLA2α, which releases fatty acid from the sn-2 position of membrane-associated glycerophospholipids, is critically involved in coronavirus replication, most likely by producing lysophospholipids that are required to form the specialized membrane compartments in which viral RNA synthesis takes place. The importance of this enzyme in coronavirus replication and DMV formation is supported by several lines of evidence, including confocal and electron microscopy, viral replication, and lipidomics studies of coronavirus-infected cells treated with a highly specific cPLA2α inhibitor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christin Müller
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Martin Hardt
- Imaging Unit, Biomedical Research Center, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Dominik Schwudke
- Division of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Priority Area Infection, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Center for Medicine and Bioscience, Borstel, Germany
| | | | - Stephan Pleschka
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - John Ziebuhr
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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Rappe JCF, de Wilde A, Di H, Müller C, Stalder H, V'kovski P, Snijder E, Brinton MA, Ziebuhr J, Ruggli N, Thiel V. Antiviral activity of K22 against members of the order Nidovirales. Virus Res 2018; 246:28-34. [PMID: 29337162 PMCID: PMC7114538 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Revised: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Recently, a novel antiviral compound (K22) that inhibits replication of a broad range of animal and human coronaviruses was reported to interfere with viral RNA synthesis by impairing double-membrane vesicle (DMV) formation (Lundin et al., 2014). Here we assessed potential antiviral activities of K22 against a range of viruses representing two (sub)families of the order Nidovirales, the Arteriviridae (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus [PRRSV], equine arteritis virus [EAV] and simian hemorrhagic fever virus [SHFV]), and the Torovirinae (equine torovirus [EToV] and White Bream virus [WBV]). Possible effects of K22 on nidovirus replication were studied in suitable cell lines. K22 concentrations significantly decreasing infectious titres of the viruses included in this study ranged from 25 to 50 μM. Reduction of double-stranded RNA intermediates of viral replication in nidovirus-infected cells treated with K22 confirmed the anti-viral potential of K22. Collectively, the data show that K22 has antiviral activity against diverse lineages of nidoviruses, suggesting that the inhibitor targets a critical and conserved step during nidovirus replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Christiane Françoise Rappe
- Institute for Virology and Immunology IVI, Mittelhäusern and Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Adriaan de Wilde
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Han Di
- Department of Biology, 623 Petit Science Center, Georgia State University, 161 Jesse Hill Jr Drive, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States.
| | - Christin Müller
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
| | - Hanspeter Stalder
- Institute for Virology and Immunology IVI, Mittelhäusern and Bern, Switzerland; Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Philip V'kovski
- Institute for Virology and Immunology IVI, Mittelhäusern and Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Eric Snijder
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Margo A Brinton
- Department of Biology, 623 Petit Science Center, Georgia State University, 161 Jesse Hill Jr Drive, Atlanta, GA 30303, United States.
| | - John Ziebuhr
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
| | - Nicolas Ruggli
- Institute for Virology and Immunology IVI, Mittelhäusern and Bern, Switzerland; Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Volker Thiel
- Institute for Virology and Immunology IVI, Mittelhäusern and Bern, Switzerland; Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
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35
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Müller C, Schulte FW, Lange-Grünweller K, Obermann W, Madhugiri R, Pleschka S, Ziebuhr J, Hartmann RK, Grünweller A. Broad-spectrum antiviral activity of the eIF4A inhibitor silvestrol against corona- and picornaviruses. Antiviral Res 2017; 150:123-129. [PMID: 29258862 PMCID: PMC7113723 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2017] [Revised: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 12/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Coronaviruses (CoV) and picornaviruses are plus-strand RNA viruses that use 5′ cap-dependent and cap-independent strategies, respectively, for viral mRNA translation initiation. Here, we analyzed the effects of the plant compound silvestrol, a specific inhibitor of the DEAD-box RNA helicase eIF4A, on viral translation using a dual luciferase assay and virus-infected primary cells. Silvestrol was recently shown to have potent antiviral activity in Ebola virus-infected human macrophages. We found that silvestrol is also a potent inhibitor of cap-dependent viral mRNA translation in CoV-infected human embryonic lung fibroblast (MRC-5) cells. EC50 values of 1.3 nM and 3 nM silvestrol were determined for MERS-CoV and HCoV-229E, respectively. For the highly pathogenic MERS-CoV, the potent antiviral activities of silvestrol were also confirmed using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as a second type of human primary cells. Silvestrol strongly inhibits the expression of CoV structural and nonstructural proteins (N, nsp8) and the formation of viral replication/transcription complexes. Furthermore, potential antiviral effects against human rhinovirus (HRV) A1 and poliovirus type 1 (PV), representing different species in the genus Enterovirus (family Picornaviridae), were investigated. The two viruses employ an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES)-mediated translation initiation mechanism. For PV, which is known to require the activity of eIF4A, an EC50 value of 20 nM silvestrol was determined in MRC-5 cells. The higher EC50 value of 100 nM measured for HRV A1 indicates a less critical role of eIF4A activity in HRV A1 IRES-mediated translation initiation. Taken together, the data reveal a broad-spectrum antiviral activity of silvestrol in infected primary cells by inhibiting eIF4A-dependent viral mRNA translation. The eIF4A inhibitor silvestrol is a potent antiviral compound that inhibits the replication of coronaviruses. Silvestrol is also effective against picornaviruses with an eIF4A-dependent Type 1 IRES element. In primary cells silvestrol has potent antiviral activity and low toxicity. Targeting the host factor eIF4A is a promising broad-spectrum antiviral strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christin Müller
- Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Schubertstraße 81, 35392 Gießen, Germany; Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF) at the partner site Gießen-Marburg-Langen, Germany
| | - Falk W Schulte
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marbacher Weg 6, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Kerstin Lange-Grünweller
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marbacher Weg 6, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Wiebke Obermann
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marbacher Weg 6, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Ramakanth Madhugiri
- Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Schubertstraße 81, 35392 Gießen, Germany
| | - Stephan Pleschka
- Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Schubertstraße 81, 35392 Gießen, Germany; Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF) at the partner site Gießen-Marburg-Langen, Germany
| | - John Ziebuhr
- Institut für Medizinische Virologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Schubertstraße 81, 35392 Gießen, Germany; Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF) at the partner site Gießen-Marburg-Langen, Germany
| | - Roland K Hartmann
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marbacher Weg 6, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Arnold Grünweller
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marbacher Weg 6, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
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Expression and Cleavage of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus nsp3-4 Polyprotein Induce the Formation of Double-Membrane Vesicles That Mimic Those Associated with Coronaviral RNA Replication. mBio 2017; 8:mBio.01658-17. [PMID: 29162711 PMCID: PMC5698553 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01658-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 161] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Betacoronaviruses, such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), are important pathogens causing potentially lethal infections in humans and animals. Coronavirus RNA synthesis is thought to be associated with replication organelles (ROs) consisting of modified endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes. These are transformed into double-membrane vesicles (DMVs) containing viral double-stranded RNA and into other membranous elements such as convoluted membranes, together forming a reticulovesicular network. Previous evidence suggested that the nonstructural proteins (nsp’s) 3, 4, and 6 of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which contain transmembrane domains, would all be required for DMV formation. We have now expressed MERS-CoV replicase self-cleaving polyprotein fragments encompassing nsp3-4 or nsp3-6, as well as coexpressed nsp3 and nsp4 of either MERS-CoV or SARS-CoV, to characterize the membrane structures induced. Using electron tomography, we demonstrate that for both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV coexpression of nsp3 and nsp4 is required and sufficient to induce DMVs. Coexpression of MERS-CoV nsp3 and nsp4 either as individual proteins or as a self-cleaving nsp3-4 precursor resulted in very similar DMVs, and in both setups we observed proliferation of zippered ER that appeared to wrap into nascent DMVs. Moreover, when inactivating nsp3-4 polyprotein cleavage by mutagenesis, we established that cleavage of the nsp3/nsp4 junction is essential for MERS-CoV DMV formation. Addition of the third MERS-CoV transmembrane protein, nsp6, did not noticeably affect DMV formation. These findings provide important insight into the biogenesis of coronavirus DMVs, establish strong similarities with other nidoviruses (specifically, the arteriviruses), and highlight possible general principles in viral DMV formation. The RNA replication of positive stranded RNA viruses of eukaryotes is thought to take place at cytoplasmic membranous replication organelles (ROs). Double-membrane vesicles are a prominent type of viral ROs. They are induced by coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, as well as by a number of other important pathogens, yet little is known about their biogenesis. In this study, we explored the viral protein requirements for the formation of MERS-CoV- and SARS-CoV-induced DMVs and established that coexpression of two of the three transmembrane subunits of the coronavirus replicase polyprotein, nonstructural proteins (nsp’s) 3 and 4, is required and sufficient to induce DMV formation. Moreover, release of nsp3 and nsp4 from the polyprotein by proteolytic maturation is essential for this process. These findings provide a strong basis for further research on the biogenesis and functionality of coronavirus ROs and may point to more general principles of viral DMV formation.
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Abstract
Coronaviruses are animal and human pathogens that can cause lethal zoonotic infections like SARS and MERS. They have polycistronic plus-stranded RNA genomes and belong to the order Nidovirales, a diverse group of viruses for which common ancestry was inferred from the common principles underlying their genome organization and expression, and from the conservation of an array of core replicase domains, including key RNA-synthesizing enzymes. Coronavirus genomes (~ 26–32 kilobases) are the largest RNA genomes known to date and their expansion was likely enabled by acquiring enzyme functions that counter the commonly high error frequency of viral RNA polymerases. The primary functions that direct coronavirus RNA synthesis and processing reside in nonstructural protein (nsp) 7 to nsp16, which are cleavage products of two large replicase polyproteins translated from the coronavirus genome. Significant progress has now been made regarding their structural and functional characterization, stimulated by technical advances like improved methods for bioinformatics and structural biology, in vitro enzyme characterization, and site-directed mutagenesis of coronavirus genomes. Coronavirus replicase functions include more or less universal activities of plus-stranded RNA viruses, like an RNA polymerase (nsp12) and helicase (nsp13), but also a number of rare or even unique domains involved in mRNA capping (nsp14, nsp16) and fidelity control (nsp14). Several smaller subunits (nsp7–nsp10) act as crucial cofactors of these enzymes and contribute to the emerging “nsp interactome.” Understanding the structure, function, and interactions of the RNA-synthesizing machinery of coronaviruses will be key to rationalizing their evolutionary success and the development of improved control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- E J Snijder
- Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - E Decroly
- Aix-Marseille Université, AFMB UMR 7257, Marseille, France; CNRS, AFMB UMR 7257, Marseille, France
| | - J Ziebuhr
- Institute of Medical Virology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.
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Ye G, Deng F, Shen Z, Luo R, Zhao L, Xiao S, Fu ZF, Peng G. Structural basis for the dimerization and substrate recognition specificity of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus 3C-like protease. Virology 2016; 494:225-35. [PMID: 27128350 PMCID: PMC7111274 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2016.04.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2015] [Revised: 04/14/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), a member of the genus Alphacoronavirus, has caused significant damage to the Asian and American pork industries. Coronavirus 3C-like protease (3CLpro), which is involved in the processing of viral polyproteins for viral replication, is an appealing antiviral drug target. Here, we present the crystal structures of PEDV 3CLpro and a molecular complex between an inactive PEDV 3CLpro variant C144A bound to a peptide substrate. Structural characterization, mutagenesis and biochemical analysis reveal the substrate-binding pockets and the residues that comprise the active site of PEDV 3CLpro. The dimerization of PEDV 3CLpro is similar to that of other Alphacoronavirus 3CLpros but has several differences from that of SARS-CoV 3CLpro from the genus Betacoronavirus. Furthermore, the non-conserved motifs in the pockets cause different cleavage of substrate between PEDV and SARS-CoV 3CLpros, which may provide new insights into the recognition of substrates by 3CLpros in various coronavirus genera. The substrate binding mechanism of PEDV 3CLpro has been characterized. The large buried surface area is responsible for dimerization of PEDV 3CLpro. Non-conserved motifs cause different cleavage between PEDV and SARS-CoV 3CLpros.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Feng Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Zhou Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Rui Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Ling Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Shaobo Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Zhen F Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Guiqing Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China; The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
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Arterivirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase: Vital enzymatic activity remains elusive. Virology 2015; 487:68-74. [PMID: 26499043 PMCID: PMC7111705 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2015] [Revised: 09/25/2015] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
All RNA viruses encode an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), which in arteriviruses is expressed as the C-terminal domain of nonstructural protein 9 (nsp9). Previously, potent primer-dependent RdRp activity has been demonstrated for the homologous polymerase subunit (nsp12) of the distantly related coronaviruses. The only previous study focusing on the in vitro activity of nsp9 of an arterivirus (equine arteritis virus; EAV) reported weak de novo polymerase activity on homopolymeric RNA templates. However, this activity was not retained when Mn2+ ions were omitted from the assay or when biologically relevant templates were supplied, which prompted us to revisit the biochemical properties of this polymerase. Based on the properties of active-site mutants, we conclude that the RNA-synthesizing activities observed in de novo and primer-dependent polymerase and terminal transferase assays cannot be attributed to recombinant EAV nsp9-RdRp. Our results illustrate the potential pitfalls of characterizing polymerases using highly sensitive biochemical assays. Several recombinant RdRp preparations of Equine arteritis virus (EAV) were purified. No primer-dependent or de novo RdRp or terminal transferase activity was shown. One RdRp preparation showed products resembling those of phage T7 RNA polymerase. Mutation of the RdRp active site aspartates to alanine crippled the EAV viability. Characterizing low activity RdRp in sensitive enzymatic assays requires extra care.
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Wu A, Wang Y, Zeng C, Huang X, Xu S, Su C, Wang M, Chen Y, Guo D. Prediction and biochemical analysis of putative cleavage sites of the 3C-like protease of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Virus Res 2015; 208:56-65. [PMID: 26036787 PMCID: PMC7114542 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2015.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2015] [Revised: 05/21/2015] [Accepted: 05/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Coronavirus 3C-like protease (3CLpro) is responsible for the cleavage of coronaviral polyprotein 1a/1ab (pp1a/1ab) to produce the mature non-structural proteins (nsps) of nsp4-16. The nsp5 of the newly emerging Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified as 3CLpro and its canonical cleavage sites (between nsps) were predicted based on sequence alignment, but the cleavability of these cleavage sites remains to be experimentally confirmed and putative non-canonical cleavage sites (inside one nsp) within the pp1a/1ab awaits further analysis. Here, we proposed a method for predicting coronaviral 3CLpro cleavage sites which balances the prediction accuracy and false positive outcomes. By applying this method to MERS-CoV, the 11 canonical cleavage sites were readily identified and verified by the biochemical assays. The Michaelis constant of the canonical cleavage sites of MERS-CoV showed that the substrate specificity of MERS-CoV 3CLpro is relatively conserved. Interestingly, nine putative non-canonical cleavage sites were predicted and three of them could be cleaved by MERS-CoV nsp5. These results pave the way for identification and functional characterization of new nsp products of coronaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andong Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Yi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Cong Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Xingyu Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Shan Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Ceyang Su
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Min Wang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China
| | - Yu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China.
| | - Deyin Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China.
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Lundin A, Dijkman R, Bergström T, Kann N, Adamiak B, Hannoun C, Kindler E, Jónsdóttir HR, Muth D, Kint J, Forlenza M, Müller MA, Drosten C, Thiel V, Trybala E. Targeting membrane-bound viral RNA synthesis reveals potent inhibition of diverse coronaviruses including the middle East respiratory syndrome virus. PLoS Pathog 2014; 10:e1004166. [PMID: 24874215 PMCID: PMC4038610 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2013] [Accepted: 04/21/2014] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses raise serious concerns as emerging zoonotic viruses without specific antiviral drugs available. Here we screened a collection of 16671 diverse compounds for anti-human coronavirus 229E activity and identified an inhibitor, designated K22, that specifically targets membrane-bound coronaviral RNA synthesis. K22 exerts most potent antiviral activity after virus entry during an early step of the viral life cycle. Specifically, the formation of double membrane vesicles (DMVs), a hallmark of coronavirus replication, was greatly impaired upon K22 treatment accompanied by near-complete inhibition of viral RNA synthesis. K22-resistant viruses contained substitutions in non-structural protein 6 (nsp6), a membrane-spanning integral component of the viral replication complex implicated in DMV formation, corroborating that K22 targets membrane bound viral RNA synthesis. Besides K22 resistance, the nsp6 mutants induced a reduced number of DMVs, displayed decreased specific infectivity, while RNA synthesis was not affected. Importantly, K22 inhibits a broad range of coronaviruses, including Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS–CoV), and efficient inhibition was achieved in primary human epithelia cultures representing the entry port of human coronavirus infection. Collectively, this study proposes an evolutionary conserved step in the life cycle of positive-stranded RNA viruses, the recruitment of cellular membranes for viral replication, as vulnerable and, most importantly, druggable target for antiviral intervention. We expect this mode of action to serve as a paradigm for the development of potent antiviral drugs to combat many animal and human virus infections. Viruses that replicate in the host cell cytoplasm have evolved to employ host cell-derived membranes to compartmentalize genome replication and transcription. Specifically for positive-stranded RNA viruses, accumulating knowledge concerning the involvement, rearrangement and requirement of cellular membranes for RNA synthesis specify the establishment of the viral replicase complex at host cell-derived membranes as an evolutionary conserved and essential step in the early phase of the viral life cycle. Here we describe a small compound inhibitor of coronavirus replication that (i) specifically targets this membrane-bound RNA replication step and (ii) has broad antiviral activity against number of diverse coronaviruses including highly pathogenic SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Since resistance mutations appear in an integral membrane-spanning component of the coronavirus replicase complex, and since all positive stranded RNA viruses have very similar membrane-spanning or membrane-associated replicase components implicated in anchoring the viral replication complex to host cell-derived membranes, our data suggest that the membrane-bound replication step of the viral life cycle is a novel, vulnerable, and druggable target for antiviral intervention of a wide range of RNA virus infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lundin
- Department of Clinical Virology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Ronald Dijkman
- Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonal Hospital St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
- Federal Department of Home Affairs, Institute of Virology and Immunology, Berne and Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
| | - Tomas Bergström
- Department of Clinical Virology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Nina Kann
- Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Beata Adamiak
- Department of Clinical Virology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Charles Hannoun
- Department of Clinical Virology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Eveline Kindler
- Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonal Hospital St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
- Federal Department of Home Affairs, Institute of Virology and Immunology, Berne and Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
| | - Hulda R. Jónsdóttir
- Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonal Hospital St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
- Federal Department of Home Affairs, Institute of Virology and Immunology, Berne and Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
| | - Doreen Muth
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Joeri Kint
- Department of Animal Sciences, Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Merck Animal Health, Bioprocess Technology & Support, Boxmeer, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Forlenza
- Department of Animal Sciences, Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marcel A. Müller
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Christian Drosten
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany
| | - Volker Thiel
- Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonal Hospital St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
- Federal Department of Home Affairs, Institute of Virology and Immunology, Berne and Mittelhäusern, Switzerland
- Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
- * E-mail: (VT); (ET)
| | - Edward Trybala
- Department of Clinical Virology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
- * E-mail: (VT); (ET)
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Dijkman R, Jebbink MF, Koekkoek SM, Deijs M, Jónsdóttir HR, Molenkamp R, Ieven M, Goossens H, Thiel V, van der Hoek L. Isolation and characterization of current human coronavirus strains in primary human epithelial cell cultures reveal differences in target cell tropism. J Virol 2013; 87:6081-90. [PMID: 23427150 PMCID: PMC3648119 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.03368-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2012] [Accepted: 01/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The human airway epithelium (HAE) represents the entry port of many human respiratory viruses, including human coronaviruses (HCoVs). Nowadays, four HCoVs, HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, and HCoV-NL63, are known to be circulating worldwide, causing upper and lower respiratory tract infections in nonhospitalized and hospitalized children. Studies of the fundamental aspects of these HCoV infections at the primary entry port, such as cell tropism, are seriously hampered by the lack of a universal culture system or suitable animal models. To expand the knowledge on fundamental virus-host interactions for all four HCoVs at the site of primary infection, we used pseudostratified HAE cell cultures to isolate and characterize representative clinical HCoV strains directly from nasopharyngeal material. Ten contemporary isolates were obtained, representing HCoV-229E (n = 1), HCoV-NL63 (n = 1), HCoV-HKU1 (n = 4), and HCoV-OC43 (n = 4). For each strain, we analyzed the replication kinetics and progeny virus release on HAE cell cultures derived from different donors. Surprisingly, by visualizing HCoV infection by confocal microscopy, we observed that HCoV-229E employs a target cell tropism for nonciliated cells, whereas HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, and HCoV-NL63 all infect ciliated cells. Collectively, the data demonstrate that HAE cell cultures, which morphologically and functionally resemble human airways in vivo, represent a robust universal culture system for isolating and comparing all contemporary HCoV strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald Dijkman
- Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonal Hospital, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Maarten F. Jebbink
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Sylvie M. Koekkoek
- Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Martin Deijs
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Richard Molenkamp
- Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Margareta Ieven
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Herman Goossens
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Volker Thiel
- Institute of Immunobiology, Kantonal Hospital, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lia van der Hoek
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Characterization of Bafinivirus main protease autoprocessing activities. J Virol 2010; 85:1348-59. [PMID: 21068254 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01716-10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The production of functional nidovirus replication-transcription complexes involves extensive proteolytic processing by virus-encoded proteases. In this study, we characterized the viral main protease (M(pro)) of the type species, White bream virus (WBV), of the newly established genus Bafinivirus (order Nidovirales, family Coronaviridae, subfamily Torovirinae). Comparative sequence analysis and mutagenesis data confirmed that the WBV M(pro) is a picornavirus 3C-like serine protease that uses a Ser-His-Asp catalytic triad embedded in a predicted two-β-barrel fold, which is extended by a third domain at its C terminus. Bacterially expressed WBV M(pro) autocatalytically released itself from flanking sequences and was able to mediate proteolytic processing in trans. Using N-terminal sequencing of autoproteolytic processing products we tentatively identified Gln↓(Ala, Thr) as a substrate consensus sequence. Mutagenesis data provided evidence to suggest that two conserved His and Thr residues are part of the S1 subsite of the enzyme's substrate-binding pocket. Interestingly, we observed two N-proximal and two C-proximal autoprocessing sites in the bacterial expression system. The detection of two major forms of M(pro), resulting from processing at two different N-proximal and one C-proximal site, in WBV-infected epithelioma papulosum cyprini cells confirmed the biological relevance of the biochemical data obtained in heterologous expression systems. To our knowledge, the use of alternative M(pro) autoprocessing sites has not been described previously for other nidovirus M(pro) domains. The data presented in this study lend further support to our previous conclusion that bafiniviruses represent a distinct group of viruses that significantly diverged from other phylogenetic clusters of the order Nidovirales.
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Johnson MA, Jaudzems K, Wüthrich K. NMR Structure of the SARS-CoV Nonstructural Protein 7 in Solution at pH 6.5. J Mol Biol 2010; 402:619-28. [PMID: 20709084 PMCID: PMC3081601 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2010.07.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2010] [Revised: 07/22/2010] [Accepted: 07/23/2010] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The NMR structure of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus nonstructural protein (nsp) 7 in aqueous solution at pH 6.5 was determined and compared with the results of previous structure determinations of nsp7 in solution at pH 7.5 and in the crystals of a hexadecameric nsp7/nsp8 complex obtained from a solution at pH 7.5. All three structures contain four helices as the only regular secondary structures, but there are differences in the lengths and sequence locations of the four helices, as well as between the tertiary folds. The present study includes data on conformational equilibria and intramolecular rate processes in nsp7 in solution at pH 6.5, which provide further insights into the polymorphisms implicated by a comparison of the three presently available nsp7 structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret A Johnson
- Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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Gadlage MJ, Graham RL, Denison MR. Murine coronaviruses encoding nsp2 at different genomic loci have altered replication, protein expression, and localization. J Virol 2008; 82:11964-9. [PMID: 18815297 PMCID: PMC2583644 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01126-07] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2007] [Accepted: 09/17/2008] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Partial or complete deletion of several coronavirus nonstructural proteins (nsps), including open reading frame 1a (ORF1a)-encoded nsp2, results in viable mutant proteins with specific replication defects. It is not known whether expression of nsps from alternate locations in the genome can complement replication defects. In this report, we show that the murine hepatitis virus nsp2 sequence was tolerated in ORF1b with an in-frame insertion between nsp13 and nsp14 and in place of ORF4. Alternate encoding or duplication of the nsp2 gene sequence resulted in differences in nsp2 expression, processing, and localization, was neutral or detrimental to replication, and did not complement an ORF1a Deltansp2 replication defect. The results suggest that wild-type genomic organization and expression of nsps are required for optimal replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Gadlage
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
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46
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Proteolytic processing of polyproteins 1a and 1ab between non-structural proteins 10 and 11/12 of Coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus is dispensable for viral replication in cultured cells. Virology 2008; 379:175-80. [PMID: 18678384 PMCID: PMC7103401 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2008.06.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2008] [Revised: 06/20/2008] [Accepted: 06/28/2008] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Coronavirus 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro) plays important roles in viral life cycle through extensive processing of the polyproteins 1a and 1ab into 12 mature, non-structural proteins (nsp5–nsp16). Structural and biochemical studies have revealed that all confirmed 3CLpro cleavage sites have a conserved Gln residue at the P1 position, which is thought to be absolutely required for efficient cleavage. Recent studies on murine hepatitis virus (MHV) showed that processing of the 1a polyprotein at the position between nsp10–nsp11 is essential for viral replication. In this report, we investigated the requirement of processing at the equivalent position for replication of avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), using an infectious cloning system. The results showed that mutation of the P1 Gln to Pro or deletion of the Gln residue in the nsp10–nsp11/12 site completely abolished the 3CLpro-mediated processing, but allowed production of infectious recombinant viruses with variable degrees of growth defect, suggesting that cleavage at the nsp10–nsp11/12 site of IBV is dispensable for viral replication in cultured cells. This study would pave a way for potential vaccine development by generation of attenuated IBV from field isolates through manipulation of the nsp10–nsp11/12 cleavage site. Similar approaches would be also applicable to other human and animal coronaviruses.
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Ponnusamy R, Moll R, Weimar T, Mesters JR, Hilgenfeld R. Variable oligomerization modes in coronavirus non-structural protein 9. J Mol Biol 2008; 383:1081-96. [PMID: 18694760 PMCID: PMC7094590 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2008.07.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2008] [Revised: 07/17/2008] [Accepted: 07/24/2008] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Non-structural protein 9 (Nsp9) of coronaviruses is believed to bind single-stranded RNA in the viral replication complex. The crystal structure of Nsp9 of human coronavirus (HCoV) 229E reveals a novel disulfide-linked homodimer, which is very different from the previously reported Nsp9 dimer of SARS coronavirus. In contrast, the structure of the Cys69Ala mutant of HCoV-229E Nsp9 shows the same dimer organization as the SARS-CoV protein. In the crystal, the wild-type HCoV-229E protein forms a trimer of dimers, whereas the mutant and SARS-CoV Nsp9 are organized in rod-like polymers. Chemical cross-linking suggests similar modes of aggregation in solution. In zone-interference gel electrophoresis assays and surface plasmon resonance experiments, the HCoV-229E wild-type protein is found to bind oligonucleotides with relatively high affinity, whereas binding by the Cys69Ala and Cys69Ser mutants is observed only for the longest oligonucleotides. The corresponding mutations in SARS-CoV Nsp9 do not hamper nucleic acid binding. From the crystal structures, a model for single-stranded RNA binding by Nsp9 is deduced. We propose that both forms of the Nsp9 dimer are biologically relevant; the occurrence of the disulfide-bonded form may be correlated with oxidative stress induced in the host cell by the viral infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh Ponnusamy
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
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Schütze H, Ulferts R, Schelle B, Bayer S, Granzow H, Hoffmann B, Mettenleiter TC, Ziebuhr J. Characterization of White bream virus reveals a novel genetic cluster of nidoviruses. J Virol 2006; 80:11598-609. [PMID: 16987966 PMCID: PMC1642614 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01758-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The order Nidovirales comprises viruses from the families Coronaviridae (genera Coronavirus and Torovirus), Roniviridae (genus Okavirus), and Arteriviridae (genus Arterivirus). In this study, we characterized White bream virus (WBV), a bacilliform plus-strand RNA virus isolated from fish. Analysis of the nucleotide sequence, organization, and expression of the 26.6-kb genome provided conclusive evidence for a phylogenetic relationship between WBV and nidoviruses. The polycistronic genome of WBV contains five open reading frames (ORFs), called ORF1a, -1b, -2, -3, and -4. In WBV-infected cells, three subgenomic RNAs expressing the structural proteins S, M, and N were identified. The subgenomic RNAs were revealed to share a 42-nucleotide, 5' leader sequence that is identical to the 5'-terminal genome sequence. The data suggest that a conserved nonanucleotide sequence, CA(G/A)CACUAC, located downstream of the leader and upstream of the structural protein genes acts as the core transcription-regulating sequence element in WBV. Like other nidoviruses with large genomes (>26 kb), WBV encodes in its ORF1b an extensive set of enzymes, including putative polymerase, helicase, ribose methyltransferase, exoribonuclease, and endoribonuclease activities. ORF1a encodes several membrane domains, a putative ADP-ribose 1"-phosphatase, and a chymotrypsin-like serine protease whose activity was established in this study. Comparative sequence analysis revealed that WBV represents a separate cluster of nidoviruses that significantly diverged from toroviruses and, even more, from coronaviruses, roniviruses, and arteriviruses. The study adds to the amazing diversity of nidoviruses and appeals for a more extensive characterization of nonmammalian nidoviruses to better understand the evolution of these largest known RNA viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heike Schütze
- The Queen's University of Belfast, School of Biomedical Sciences, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Coronaviruses are large, enveloped RNA viruses of both medical and veterinary importance. Interest in this viral family has intensified in the past few years as a result of the identification of a newly emerged coronavirus as the causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). At the molecular level, coronaviruses employ a variety of unusual strategies to accomplish a complex program of gene expression. Coronavirus replication entails ribosome frameshifting during genome translation, the synthesis of both genomic and multiple subgenomic RNA species, and the assembly of progeny virions by a pathway that is unique among enveloped RNA viruses. Progress in the investigation of these processes has been enhanced by the development of reverse genetic systems, an advance that was heretofore obstructed by the enormous size of the coronavirus genome. This review summarizes both classical and contemporary discoveries in the study of the molecular biology of these infectious agents, with particular emphasis on the nature and recognition of viral receptors, viral RNA synthesis, and the molecular interactions governing virion assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul S Masters
- Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, 12201, USA
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50
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Gorbalenya AE, Enjuanes L, Ziebuhr J, Snijder EJ. Nidovirales: evolving the largest RNA virus genome. Virus Res 2006; 117:17-37. [PMID: 16503362 PMCID: PMC7114179 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2006.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 650] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2005] [Revised: 01/13/2006] [Accepted: 01/18/2006] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
This review focuses on the monophyletic group of animal RNA viruses united in the order Nidovirales. The order includes the distantly related coronaviruses, toroviruses, and roniviruses, which possess the largest known RNA genomes (from 26 to 32kb) and will therefore be called "large" nidoviruses in this review. They are compared with their arterivirus cousins, which also belong to the Nidovirales despite having a much smaller genome (13-16kb). Common and unique features that have been identified for either large or all nidoviruses are outlined. These include the nidovirus genetic plan and genome diversity, the composition of the replicase machinery and virus particles, virus-specific accessory genes, the mechanisms of RNA and protein synthesis, and the origin and evolution of nidoviruses with small and large genomes. Nidoviruses employ single-stranded, polycistronic RNA genomes of positive polarity that direct the synthesis of the subunits of the replicative complex, including the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and helicase. Replicase gene expression is under the principal control of a ribosomal frameshifting signal and a chymotrypsin-like protease, which is assisted by one or more papain-like proteases. A nested set of subgenomic RNAs is synthesized to express the 3'-proximal ORFs that encode most conserved structural proteins and, in some large nidoviruses, also diverse accessory proteins that may promote virus adaptation to specific hosts. The replicase machinery includes a set of RNA-processing enzymes some of which are unique for either all or large nidoviruses. The acquisition of these enzymes may have improved the low fidelity of RNA replication to allow genome expansion and give rise to the ancestors of small and, subsequently, large nidoviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander E Gorbalenya
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, LUMC E4-P, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
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