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Gaynor KU, Vaysburd M, Harman MAJ, Albecka A, Jeffrey P, Beswick P, Papa G, Chen L, Mallery D, McGuinness B, Van Rietschoten K, Stanway S, Brear P, Lulla A, Ciazynska K, Chang VT, Sharp J, Neary M, Box H, Herriott J, Kijak E, Tatham L, Bentley EG, Sharma P, Kirby A, Han X, Stewart JP, Owen A, Briggs JAG, Hyvönen M, Skynner MJ, James LC. Multivalent bicyclic peptides are an effective antiviral modality that can potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3583. [PMID: 37328472 PMCID: PMC10275983 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39158-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 has stimulated the rapid development of new antibody and small molecule therapeutics to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we describe a third antiviral modality that combines the drug-like advantages of both. Bicycles are entropically constrained peptides stabilized by a central chemical scaffold into a bi-cyclic structure. Rapid screening of diverse bacteriophage libraries against SARS-CoV-2 Spike yielded unique Bicycle binders across the entire protein. Exploiting Bicycles' inherent chemical combinability, we converted early micromolar hits into nanomolar viral inhibitors through simple multimerization. We also show how combining Bicycles against different epitopes into a single biparatopic agent allows Spike from diverse variants of concern (VoC) to be targeted (Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron). Finally, we demonstrate in both male hACE2-transgenic mice and Syrian golden hamsters that both multimerized and biparatopic Bicycles reduce viraemia and prevent host inflammation. These results introduce Bicycles as a potential antiviral modality to tackle new and rapidly evolving viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine U Gaynor
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Marina Vaysburd
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Maximilian A J Harman
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Anna Albecka
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Phillip Jeffrey
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Beswick
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Guido Papa
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Liuhong Chen
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Donna Mallery
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Brian McGuinness
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | | | - Steven Stanway
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Brear
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, United Kingdom
| | - Aleksei Lulla
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, United Kingdom
| | - Katarzyna Ciazynska
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Veronica T Chang
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
| | - Jo Sharp
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Megan Neary
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Helen Box
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Jo Herriott
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Edyta Kijak
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Lee Tatham
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Eleanor G Bentley
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Parul Sharma
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Kirby
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Ximeng Han
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - James P Stewart
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Owen
- University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - John A G Briggs
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
- Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, 82152, Germany
| | - Marko Hyvönen
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J Skynner
- Bicycle Therapeutics, Portway Building, Granta Park, Cambridge, CB21 6GS, United Kingdom.
| | - Leo C James
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom.
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