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Ciaglia T, Vestuto V, Di Sarno V, Musella S, Smaldone G, Di Matteo F, Napolitano V, Miranda MR, Pepe G, Basilicata MG, Novi S, Capolupo I, Bifulco G, Campiglia P, Gomez-Monterrey I, Snoeck R, Andrei G, Manfra M, Ostacolo C, Lauro G, Bertamino A. Peptidomimetics as potent dual SARS-CoV-2 cathepsin-L and main protease inhibitors: In silico design, synthesis and pharmacological characterization. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 266:116128. [PMID: 38232463 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
In this paper we present the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a new series of peptidomimetics acting as potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Starting from our previously described Main Protease (MPro) and Papain Like Protease (PLPro) dual inhibitor, CV11, here we disclose its high inhibitory activity against cathepsin L (CTSL) (IC50 = 19.80 ± 4.44 nM), an emerging target in SARS-CoV-2 infection machinery. An in silico design, inspired by the structure of CV11, led to the development of a library of peptidomimetics showing interesting activities against CTSL and Mpro, allowing us to trace the chemical requirements for the binding to both enzymes. The screening in Vero cells infected with 5 different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns, highlighted sub-micromolar activities for most of the synthesized compounds (13, 15, 16, 17 and 31) in agreement with the enzymatic inhibition assays results. The compounds showed lack of activity against several different RNA viruses except for the 229E and OC43 human coronavirus strains, also characterized by a cathepsin-L dependent release into the host cells. The most promising derivatives were also evaluated for their chemical and metabolic in-vitro stability, with derivatives 15 and 17 showing a suitable profile for further preclinical characterization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Ciaglia
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Vestuto
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Veronica Di Sarno
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Simona Musella
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Gerardina Smaldone
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Francesca Di Matteo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Valeria Napolitano
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Maria Rosaria Miranda
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Giacomo Pepe
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | | | - Sara Novi
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Ilaria Capolupo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Bifulco
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Pietro Campiglia
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy; European Biomedical Research Institute (EBRIS), Via S. De Renzi 50, 84125, Salerno, Italy
| | - Isabel Gomez-Monterrey
- Department of Pharmacy, University Federico II of Naples, Via D. Montesano 49, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Robert Snoeck
- Rega Institute for Medical Research, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Transplantation, KU Leuven, BE-3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Graciela Andrei
- Rega Institute for Medical Research, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Transplantation, KU Leuven, BE-3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michele Manfra
- Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Via Dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - Carmine Ostacolo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Lauro
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy.
| | - Alessia Bertamino
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via G. Paolo II 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy.
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Miranda MR, Guimarães JRD, Coelho-Souza AS. [3H]Leucine incorporation method as a tool to measure secondary production by periphytic bacteria associated to the roots of floating aquatic macrophyte. J Microbiol Methods 2007; 71:23-31. [PMID: 17765986 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2007.06.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2007] [Revised: 06/29/2007] [Accepted: 06/30/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The present study assessed the application of [(3)H]Leucine incorporation into protein by periphytic bacteria associated with the roots of the floating aquatic macrophyte Eichornia crassipes. Basic assumptions underlying the method, such as linearity of leucine incorporation, saturation level of incorporation rates, incorporation into other macromolecules, specificity of incorporation for bacterial assemblages and [(3)H]Leucine degradation during samples storage were tested, and two procedures for extracting the incorporated leucine were compared. Both methods gave the same results, however, the hot TCA extraction method was less time consuming than the alkaline extraction method. Incorporation of [(3)H]Leucine was linear for up to 40 min. Saturation concentration of [(3)H]Leucine incorporation into protein was 1500 nM. An experiment with prokaryotic and eukaryotic inhibitors showed no significant [(3)H]Leucine incorporation into eukaryotes even in high leucine concentrations. No significant amounts of radiolabel were incorporated into other macromolecules. The maximum time of sample storage after the incubation is 15 days. The leucine incorporation method can be a reliable tool to measure bacterial production in the periphyton root-associated bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Miranda
- Laboratório de Traçadores Wolfgang Christian Pfeiffer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho,Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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