1
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Downard KM. 25 Years Responding to Respiratory and Other Viruses with Mass Spectrometry. Mass Spectrom (Tokyo) 2023; 12:A0136. [PMID: 38053835 PMCID: PMC10694638 DOI: 10.5702/massspectrometry.a0136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This review article presents the development and application of mass spectrometry (MS) approaches, developed in the author's laboratory over the past 25 years, to detect; characterise, type and subtype; and distinguish major variants and subvariants of respiratory viruses such as influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). All features make use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) mass maps, recorded for individual viral proteins or whole virus digests. A MALDI-based immunoassay in which antibody-peptide complexes were preserved on conventional MALDI targets without their immobilisation led to an approach that enabled their indirect detection. The site of binding, and thus the molecular antigenicity of viruses, could be determined. The same approach was employed to study antivirals bound to their target viral protein, the nature of the binding residues, and relative binding affinities. The benefits of high-resolution MS were exploited to detect sequence-conserved signature peptides of unique mass within whole virus and single protein digests. These enabled viruses to be typed, subtyped, their lineage determined, and variants and subvariants to be distinguished. Their detection using selected ion monitoring improved analytical sensitivity limits to aid the identification of viruses in clinical specimens. The same high-resolution mass map data, for a wide range of viral strains, were input into a purpose-built algorithm (MassTree) in order to both chart and interrogate viral evolution. Without the need for gene or protein sequences, or any sequence alignment, this phylonumerics approach also determines and displays single-point mutations associated with viral protein evolution in a single-tree building step.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M. Downard
- Infectious Disease Responses Laboratory, Prince of Wales Clinical Research Sciences, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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2
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Liu J, Xu L, Guo W, Li Z, Khan MKH, Ge W, Patterson TA, Hong H. Developing a SARS-CoV-2 main protease binding prediction random forest model for drug repurposing for COVID-19 treatment. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2023; 248:1927-1936. [PMID: 37997891 PMCID: PMC10798185 DOI: 10.1177/15353702231209413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic resulted in millions of people becoming infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and close to seven million deaths worldwide. It is essential to further explore and design effective COVID-19 treatment drugs that target the main protease of SARS-CoV-2, a major target for COVID-19 drugs. In this study, machine learning was applied for predicting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease binding of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs to assist in the identification of potential repurposing candidates for COVID-19 treatment. Ligands bound to the SARS-CoV-2 main protease in the Protein Data Bank and compounds experimentally tested in SARS-CoV-2 main protease binding assays in the literature were curated. These chemicals were divided into training (516 chemicals) and testing (360 chemicals) data sets. To identify SARS-CoV-2 main protease binders as potential candidates for repurposing to treat COVID-19, 1188 FDA-approved drugs from the Liver Toxicity Knowledge Base were obtained. A random forest algorithm was used for constructing predictive models based on molecular descriptors calculated using Mold2 software. Model performance was evaluated using 100 iterations of fivefold cross-validations which resulted in 78.8% balanced accuracy. The random forest model that was constructed from the whole training dataset was used to predict SARS-CoV-2 main protease binding on the testing set and the FDA-approved drugs. Model applicability domain and prediction confidence on drugs predicted as the main protease binders discovered 10 FDA-approved drugs as potential candidates for repurposing to treat COVID-19. Our results demonstrate that machine learning is an efficient method for drug repurposing and, thus, may accelerate drug development targeting SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Wenjing Guo
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Zoe Li
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Md Kamrul Hasan Khan
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Weigong Ge
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Tucker A Patterson
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Huixiao Hong
- National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
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3
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Xu L, Chen R, Liu J, Patterson TA, Hong H. Analyzing 3D structures of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease reveals structural features of ligand binding for COVID-19 drug discovery. Drug Discov Today 2023; 28:103727. [PMID: 37516343 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2023.103727] [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: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease has an essential role in viral replication and has become a major target for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) drug development. Various inhibitors have been discovered or designed to bind to the main protease. The availability of more than 550 3D structures of the main protease provides a wealth of structural details on the main protease in both ligand-free and ligand-bound states. Therefore, we examined these structures to ascertain the structural features for the role of the main protease in the cleavage of polyproteins, the alternative conformations during main protease maturation, and ligand interactions in the main protease. The structural features unearthed could promote the development of COVID-19 drugs targeting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Xu
- National Center for Toxicological Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Ru Chen
- Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Jie Liu
- National Center for Toxicological Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Tucker A Patterson
- National Center for Toxicological Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA
| | - Huixiao Hong
- National Center for Toxicological Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA.
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4
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Justo Arevalo S, Castillo-Chávez A, Uribe Calampa CS, Zapata Sifuentes D, Huallpa CJ, Landa Bianchi G, Garavito-Salini Casas R, Quiñones Aguilar M, Pineda Chavarría R. What do we know about the function of SARS-CoV-2 proteins? Front Immunol 2023; 14:1249607. [PMID: 37790934 PMCID: PMC10544941 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1249607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance in the understanding of the biology of SARS-CoV-2. After more than two years since the first report of COVID-19, it remains crucial to continue studying how SARS-CoV-2 proteins interact with the host metabolism to cause COVID-19. In this review, we summarize the findings regarding the functions of the 16 non-structural, 6 accessory and 4 structural SARS-CoV-2 proteins. We place less emphasis on the spike protein, which has been the subject of several recent reviews. Furthermore, comprehensive reviews about COVID-19 therapeutic have been also published. Therefore, we do not delve into details on these topics; instead we direct the readers to those other reviews. To avoid confusions with what we know about proteins from other coronaviruses, we exclusively report findings that have been experimentally confirmed in SARS-CoV-2. We have identified host mechanisms that appear to be the primary targets of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, including gene expression and immune response pathways such as ribosome translation, JAK/STAT, RIG-1/MDA5 and NF-kβ pathways. Additionally, we emphasize the multiple functions exhibited by SARS-CoV-2 proteins, along with the limited information available for some of these proteins. Our aim with this review is to assist researchers and contribute to the ongoing comprehension of SARS-CoV-2's pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago Justo Arevalo
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru
- Departmento de Bioquimica, Instituto de Quimica, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | - Daniela Zapata Sifuentes
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru
- Departmento de Bioquimica, Instituto de Quimica, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - César J. Huallpa
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru
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5
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Hoyle JS, Downard KM. High resolution mass spectrometry of respiratory viruses: beyond MALDI-ToF instruments for next generation viral typing, subtyping, variant and sub-variant identification. Analyst 2023; 148:4263-4273. [PMID: 37587867 DOI: 10.1039/d3an00953j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
In the wake of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, a point has been reached to assess the limitations and strengths of the analytical responses to virus identification and characterisation. Mass spectrometry has played a growing role in this area for over two decades, and this review highlights the benefits of mass spectrometry (MS) over PCR-based methods together with advantages of high mass resolution, high mass accuracy strategies over conventional MALDI-ToF and ESI-MS/MS instrumentation. This review presents the development and application of high resolution mass spectrometry approaches to detect, characterise, type and subtype, and distinguish variants of the influenza and SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses. The detection limits for the identification of SARS-CoV2 virus variants in clinical specimens and the future uptake of high resolution instruments in clinical laboratories are discussed. The same high resolution mass data can be used to monitor viral evolution and follow evolutionary trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua S Hoyle
- Infectious Disease Responses Laboratory, Prince of Wales Clinical Research Sciences, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Kevin M Downard
- Infectious Disease Responses Laboratory, Prince of Wales Clinical Research Sciences, Sydney, Australia.
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6
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Zhu B, Ouda R, de Figueiredo P, Kobayashi KS. ORF6, a repressor of the MHC class I pathway: new molecular target for SARS-CoV-2 drug discovery? Expert Opin Ther Targets 2023; 27:639-644. [PMID: 37602463 DOI: 10.1080/14728222.2023.2248377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Baohui Zhu
- Department of Immunology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Ryota Ouda
- Department of Immunology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Paul de Figueiredo
- Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Koichi S Kobayashi
- Department of Immunology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
- Hokkaido University, Institute for Vaccine Research and Development (HU-IVReD), Sapporo, Japan
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Bryan, TX, USA
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7
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Azizogli AR, Pai V, Coppola F, Jafari R, Dodd-o JB, Harish R, Balasubramanian B, Kashyap J, Acevedo-Jake AM, Král P, Kumar VA. Scalable Inhibitors of the Nsp3-Nsp4 Coupling in SARS-CoV-2. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:5349-5360. [PMID: 36798146 PMCID: PMC9923439 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c06384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The human Betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a novel pathogen claiming millions of lives and causing a global pandemic that has disrupted international healthcare systems, economies, and communities. The virus is fast mutating and presenting more infectious but less lethal versions. Currently, some small-molecule therapeutics have received FDA emergency use authorization for the treatment of COVID-19, including Lagevrio (molnupiravir) and Paxlovid (nirmaltrevir/ritonavir), which target the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and the 3CLpro main protease, respectively. Proteins downstream in the viral replication process, specifically the nonstructural proteins (Nsps1-16), are potential drug targets due to their crucial functions. Of these Nsps, Nsp4 is a particularly promising drug target due to its involvement in the SARS-CoV viral replication and double-membrane vesicle formation (mediated via interaction with Nsp3). Given the degree of sequence conservation of these two Nsps across the Betacoronavirus clade, their protein-protein interactions and functions are likely to be conserved as well in SARS-CoV-2. Through AlphaFold2 and its recent advancements, protein structures were generated of Nsp3 and 4 lumenal loops of interest. Then, using a combination of molecular docking suites and an existing library of lead-like compounds, we virtually screened 7 million ligands to identify five putative ligand inhibitors of Nsp4, which could present an alternative pharmaceutical approach against SARS-CoV-2. These ligands exhibit promising lead-like properties (ideal molecular weight and log P profiles), maintain fixed-Nsp4-ligand complexes in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and tightly associate with Nsp4 via hydrophobic interactions. Additionally, alternative peptide inhibitors based on Nsp3 were designed and shown in MD simulations to provide a highly stable binding to the Nsp4 protein. Finally, these therapeutics were attached to dendrimer structures to promote their multivalent binding with Nsp4, especially its large flexible luminal loop (Nsp4LLL). The therapeutics tested in this study represent many different approaches for targeting large flexible protein structures, especially those localized to the ER. This study is the first work targeting the membrane rearrangement system of viruses and will serve as a potential avenue for treating viruses with similar replicative function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdul-Rahman Azizogli
- Department
of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Varun Pai
- Department
of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Francesco Coppola
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
| | - Roya Jafari
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
| | - Joseph B. Dodd-o
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Rohan Harish
- Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Bhavani Balasubramanian
- Department
of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Jatin Kashyap
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Amanda M. Acevedo-Jake
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
| | - Petr Král
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
- Departments
of Physics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
| | - Vivek A. Kumar
- Department
of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute
of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
- Department
of Chemical and Materials Engineering, New
Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102, United States
- Department
of Endodontics, Rutgers School of Dental
Medicine, Newark, New Jersey 07103, United States
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8
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Shafqat A, Omer MH, Ahmad O, Niaz M, Abdulkader HS, Shafqat S, Mushtaq AH, Shaik A, Elshaer AN, Kashir J, Alkattan K, Yaqinuddin A. SARS-CoV-2 epitopes inform future vaccination strategies. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1041185. [PMID: 36505475 PMCID: PMC9732895 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1041185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
All currently approved COVID-19 vaccines utilize the spike protein as their immunogen. SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) contain mutations in the spike protein, enabling them to escape infection- and vaccination-induced immune responses to cause reinfection. New vaccines are hence being researched intensively. Studying SARS-CoV-2 epitopes is essential for vaccine design, as identifying targets of broadly neutralizing antibody responses and immunodominant T-cell epitopes reveal candidates for inclusion in next-generation COVID-19 vaccines. We summarize the major studies which have reported on SARS-CoV-2 antibody and T-cell epitopes thus far. These results suggest that a future of pan-coronavirus vaccines, which not only protect against SARS-CoV-2 but numerous other coronaviruses, may be possible. The T-cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 have gotten less attention than neutralizing antibody epitopes but may provide new strategies to control SARS-CoV-2 infection. T-cells target many SARS-CoV-2 antigens other than spike, recognizing numerous epitopes within these antigens, thereby limiting the chance of immune escape by VOCs that mainly possess spike protein mutations. Therefore, augmenting vaccination-induced T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 may provide adequate protection despite broad antibody escape by VOCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Areez Shafqat
- College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,*Correspondence: Areez Shafqat,
| | - Mohamed H. Omer
- School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Omar Ahmad
- College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mahnoor Niaz
- Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
| | | | | | | | - Abdullah Shaik
- College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Junaid Kashir
- College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,Department of Comparative Medicine, King Faisal Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khaled Alkattan
- College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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9
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Zhu JY, Wang G, Huang X, Lee H, Lee JG, Yang P, van de Leemput J, Huang W, Kane MA, Yang P, Han Z. SARS-CoV-2 Nsp6 damages Drosophila heart and mouse cardiomyocytes through MGA/MAX complex-mediated increased glycolysis. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1039. [PMID: 36180527 PMCID: PMC9523645 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03986-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 infection causes COVID-19, a severe acute respiratory disease associated with cardiovascular complications including long-term outcomes. The presence of virus in cardiac tissue of patients with COVID-19 suggests this is a direct, rather than secondary, effect of infection. Here, by expressing individual SARS-CoV-2 proteins in the Drosophila heart, we demonstrate interaction of virus Nsp6 with host proteins of the MGA/MAX complex (MGA, PCGF6 and TFDP1). Complementing transcriptomic data from the fly heart reveal that this interaction blocks the antagonistic MGA/MAX complex, which shifts the balance towards MYC/MAX and activates glycolysis-with similar findings in mouse cardiomyocytes. Further, the Nsp6-induced glycolysis disrupts cardiac mitochondrial function, known to increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) in heart failure; this could explain COVID-19-associated cardiac pathology. Inhibiting the glycolysis pathway by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) treatment attenuates the Nsp6-induced cardiac phenotype in flies and mice. These findings point to glycolysis as a potential pharmacological target for treating COVID-19-associated heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Yi Zhu
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Guanglei Wang
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Xiaohu Huang
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Hangnoh Lee
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Jin-Gu Lee
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Penghua Yang
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Joyce van de Leemput
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Weiliang Huang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
- University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Maureen A Kane
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Peixin Yang
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA
| | - Zhe Han
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 670 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
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10
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Synthesis of Novel N4-Hydrocytidine Analogs as Potential Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Agents. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15091144. [PMID: 36145365 PMCID: PMC9504122 DOI: 10.3390/ph15091144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging global pandemic with severe morbidity and mortality caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Molnupiravir, an ester prodrug form of N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC), was recently emergency-use approved for the treatment of early SARS-CoV-2 infections. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of a series of novel NHC analogs.
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11
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented health crisis and economic burden worldwide. Its etiological agent SARS-CoV-2, a new virus in the coronavirus family, has infected hundreds of millions of people worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 has evolved over the past 2 years to increase its transmissibility as well as to evade the immunity established by previous infection and vaccination. Nevertheless, strong immune responses can be elicited by viral infection and vaccination, which have proved to be protective against the emergence of variants, particularly with respect to hospitalization or severe disease. Here, we review our current understanding of how the virus enters the host cell and how our immune system is able to defend against cell entry and infection. Neutralizing antibodies are a major component of our immune defense and have been extensively studied for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Structures of these neutralizing antibodies have provided valuable insights into epitopes that are protective against the original ancestral virus and the variants that have emerged. The molecular characterization of neutralizing epitopes as well as epitope conservation and resistance are important for design of next-generation vaccines and antibody therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hejun Liu
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational BiologyThe Scripps Research InstituteLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
| | - Ian A. Wilson
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational BiologyThe Scripps Research InstituteLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
- The Skaggs Institute for Chemical BiologyThe Scripps Research InstituteLa JollaCaliforniaUSA
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12
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Wang M, Zhao Y, Liu J, Li T. SARS-CoV-2 modulation of RIG-I-MAVS signaling: Potential mechanisms of impairment on host antiviral immunity and therapeutic approaches. MEDCOMM - FUTURE MEDICINE 2022; 1:e29. [PMID: 37521851 PMCID: PMC9878249 DOI: 10.1002/mef2.29] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global infectious disease aroused by RNA virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients may suffer from severe respiratory failure or even die, posing a huge challenge to global public health. Retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) is one of the major pattern recognition receptors, function to recognize RNA viruses and mediate the innate immune response. RIG-1 and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 contain an N-terminal caspase recruitment domain that is activated upon detection of viral RNA in the cytoplasm of virus-infected cells. Activated RIG-I and mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) protein trigger a series of corresponding immune responses such as the production of type I interferon against viral infection. In this review, we are summarizing the role of the structural, nonstructural, and accessory proteins from SARS-CoV-2 on the RIG-I-MAVS pathway, and exploring the potential mechanism how SARS-CoV-2 could evade the host antiviral response. We then proposed that modulation of the RIG-I-MAVS signaling pathway might be a novel and effective therapeutic strategy to against COVID-19 as well as the constantly mutating coronavirus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingming Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau Institute for Applied Research in Medicine and HealthMacau University of Science and TechnologyMacauChina
| | - Yue Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau Institute for Applied Research in Medicine and HealthMacau University of Science and TechnologyMacauChina
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Diagnostics, Department of Clinical Immunology, Institute of Clinical Laboratory MedicineGuangdong Medical UniversityDongguanChina
| | - Juan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau Institute for Applied Research in Medicine and HealthMacau University of Science and TechnologyMacauChina
| | - Ting Li
- State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicines, Macau Institute for Applied Research in Medicine and HealthMacau University of Science and TechnologyMacauChina
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13
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Navish AA, Uthayakumar R. An exploration on the topologies of SARS-CoV-2/human protein-protein interaction network. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022:1-13. [PMID: 35947116 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2108496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Network biology is an important finding that uncovers the significant elements in viral infection control. Since viruses use the proteins on their surfaces to attach and enter into the host cell, the establishment of virus-host protein interactions is a potent regulator of the global organization of the viral life cycle after virus entry into host cells. In this instance, a topological study on the SARS-CoV-2/Human Protein-Protein Interaction Network (PPIN) evacuates much information about the protein-protein interactions. By making some interruptions to the interaction between proteins and hosts, we can quickly reduce the spread of the disease and get an insight into the target protein for drug development. This paper mainly focused on the graphical and structural complexity of the SARS-CoV-2/Human PPIN. For this purpose, the various primary (distance, radius, diameter, etc…) and advanced levels of graph measures (density, modularity, clustering coefficient, etc…) as well as a few fractal (box dimension, multifractal analysis) and entropy measures have been used. In addition, several graph descriptions and distribution graphs of PPIN offered to gain a thorough understanding of the SARS-CoV-2/Human PPIN. Conclusively, based on our work, we have discovered that PPIN is moderately complex and identified that hiring Nsp8 as a target node will positively affect the PPIN and has pointed out that mathematically found target proteins are matched with already suggested target proteins in the previous survey.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- A A Navish
- Department of Mathematics, The Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Dindigul, TamilNadu, India
| | - R Uthayakumar
- Department of Mathematics, The Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed to be University, Dindigul, TamilNadu, India
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In Silico Study of Alkaloids: Neferine and Berbamine Potentially Inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase. J CHEM-NY 2022. [DOI: 10.1155/2022/7548802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, has been a global concern. While there have been some vaccines and drugs, the rapid emergence of variants due to mutations has threatened public health. As the de novo drug development process is expensive and time-consuming, repurposing existing antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 is an alternative and promising approach to mitigate the current situation. Several studies have indicated that some natural products exhibit inhibitory activities against SARS-CoV-2. This study is aimed at analyzing the potential of natural alkaloids, using various computational tools, as drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2. The molecular docking analysis predicted that naturally occurring alkaloids can bind with RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRP). The QSAR analysis was conducted by using the way2drug/PASS online web resource, and the pharmacokinetics and toxicity properties of these alkaloids were predicted using pkCSM, SwissADME, and ProTox-II webserver. Among the different alkaloids studied, neferine and berbamine were repurposed as potential drug candidates based on their binding affinity and interactions with RdRP. Further, molecular dynamics simulation of 90 ns revealed the conformational stability of the neferine-RdRP complex.
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15
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Stability of SARS-CoV-2-Encoded Proteins and Their Antibody Levels Correlate with Interleukin 6 in COVID-19 Patients. mSystems 2022; 7:e0005822. [PMID: 35582921 PMCID: PMC9238396 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00058-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has become a severe global public health crisis. Therefore, understanding the molecular details of SARS-CoV-2 will be critical for fighting the virus's spread and preventing future pandemics. In this study, we globally profiled the stability of SARS-CoV-2-encoded proteins, studied their degradation pathways, and determined their correlation with the antibody responses in patient plasma. We identified 18 proteins with unstable half-lives and 6 relatively stable proteins with longer half-lives. The labile SARS-CoV-2 proteins were degraded mainly by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. We also observed a significant correlation between antibody levels and protein half-lives, which indicated that a stable antigen of SARS-CoV-2 could be more effective for eliciting antibody responses. In addition, levels of antiviral antibodies targeting NSP10 were found to be negatively correlated with systemic levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in patients. These findings may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic or diagnostic approaches. IMPORTANCE SARS-CoV-2, the etiological cause of COVID-19, carries 29 genes in its genome. However, our knowledge of the viral proteins in biological and biochemical aspects is limited. In this study, we globally profiled the stability of the viral proteins in living lung epithelial cells. Importantly, the labile SARS-CoV-2-encoded proteins were mainly degraded through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Stable proteins, including spike and nucleocapsid, of SARS-CoV-2 were more effective in eliciting antibody production. The levels of antiviral antibodies targeting NSP10 were negatively correlated with systemic levels of IL-6 in COVID-19 patients.
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Szymczak A, Jędruchniewicz N, Torelli A, Kaczmarzyk-Radka A, Coluccio R, Kłak M, Konieczny A, Ferenc S, Witkiewicz W, Montomoli E, Miernikiewicz P, Bąchor R, Dąbrowska K. Antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 proteins N, S and E in COVID-19 patients in the normal population and in historical samples. J Gen Virol 2021; 102. [PMID: 34816794 PMCID: PMC8742988 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001692] [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] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally; recognition of immune responses to this virus will be crucial for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) control, prevention and treatment. We comprehensively analysed IgG and IgA antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N), spike protein domain 1 (S1) and envelope protein (E) in: SARS-CoV-2-infected patient, healthy, historical and pre-epidemic samples, including patients' medical, epidemiological and diagnostic data, virus-neutralizing capability and kinetics. N-specific IgG and IgA are the most reliable diagnostic targets for infection. Serum IgG levels correlate to IgA levels. Half a year after infection, anti-N and anti-S1 IgG decreased, but sera preserved virus-inhibitory potency; thus, testing for IgG may underestimate the protective potential of antibodies. Historical and pre-epidemic sera did not inhibit SARS-CoV-2, thus its circulation before the pandemic and a protective role from antibodies pre-induced by other coronaviruses cannot be confirmed by this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksander Szymczak
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland.,Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Natalia Jędruchniewicz
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | - Agata Kaczmarzyk-Radka
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | - Marlena Kłak
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Andrzej Konieczny
- Department of Nephrology and Transplantation Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Stanisław Ferenc
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Wojciech Witkiewicz
- Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland.,VisMederi Srl, Siena, Italy
| | - Emanuele Montomoli
- Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | | | - Remigiusz Bąchor
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland.,Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Krystyna Dąbrowska
- Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Wrocław, Poland.,Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Center, Wrocław, Poland
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17
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Unchwaniwala N, Zhan H, den Boon JA, Ahlquist P. Cryo-electron microscopy of nodavirus RNA replication organelles illuminates positive-strand RNA virus genome replication. Curr Opin Virol 2021; 51:74-79. [PMID: 34601307 PMCID: PMC8504867 DOI: 10.1016/j.coviro.2021.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The nodavirus flock house virus recently provided a well-characterized model for the first cryo-electron microscope tomography of membrane-bound, positive-strand RNA ((+)RNA) virus genome replication complexes (RCs). The resulting first views of RC organization and complementary biochemical results showed that the viral RNA replication vesicle is tightly packed with the dsRNA genomic RNA replication intermediate, and that (+)ssRNA replication products are released through the vesicle neck to the cytosol through a 12-fold symmetric ring or crown of multi-functional viral RNA replication proteins, which likely also contribute to viral RNA synthesis. Subsequent studies identified similar crown-like RNA replication protein complexes in alphavirus and coronavirus RCs, indicating related mechanisms across highly divergent (+)RNA viruses. As outlined in this review, these results have significant implications for viral function, evolution and control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuruddin Unchwaniwala
- John and Jeanne Rowe Center for Research in Virology, Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, 53715, United States; Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States; McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
| | - Hong Zhan
- John and Jeanne Rowe Center for Research in Virology, Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, 53715, United States; Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States; McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
| | - Johan A den Boon
- John and Jeanne Rowe Center for Research in Virology, Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, 53715, United States; Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States; McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
| | - Paul Ahlquist
- John and Jeanne Rowe Center for Research in Virology, Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, 53715, United States; Institute for Molecular Virology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States; McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
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