scholarly journals A student led computational screening of peptide inhibitors against main protease of SARS‐CoV ‐2

Author(s):  
Anika Tajrian Khan ◽  
Golam Mahmud Chowdhury ◽  
Juwairiyah Hafsah ◽  
Md Maruf ◽  
Md Riyad Hossen Raihan ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (02) ◽  
pp. 160-172
Author(s):  
Shanthi Sabarimurugan ◽  
Indu Purushothaman ◽  
Rajarajan Swaminathan ◽  
Arun Dharmarajan ◽  
Sudha Warrier ◽  
...  


Author(s):  
Afraa Aqeel Zackria ◽  
Ramya Pattabiraman ◽  
T. P. Krishna Murthy ◽  
S. Birendra Kumar ◽  
Blessy Baby Mathew ◽  
...  


Author(s):  
SENTHIL PRABHU S ◽  
SATHISHKUMAR R ◽  
KIRUTHIKA B

Objective: At present, the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic is increasing global health concerns. This coronavirus outbreak is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2. Since, no specific antiviral for treatment against COVID-19, so identification of new therapeutics is an urgent need. The objective of this study is to the analysis of lichen compounds against main protease and spike protein targets of SARS-CoV-2 using in silico approach. Methods: A total of 108 lichen compounds were subjected to ADMET analysis and 14 compounds were selected based on the ADMET properties and Lipinski’s rule of five. Molecular docking was performed for screening of selected individual lichen metabolites against the main protease and spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 by Schrodinger Glide module software. Results: Among the lead compounds, fallacinol showed the highest binding energy value of −11.83 kcal/mol against spike protein, 4-O-Demethylbarbatic acid exhibited the highest dock score of −11.67 kcal/mol against main protease. Conclusion: This study finding suggests that lichen substances may be potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2.



F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Silva Andrade ◽  
Preetam Ghosh ◽  
Debmalya Barh ◽  
Sandeep Tiwari ◽  
Raner José Santana Silva ◽  
...  

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is the causal agent of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. They are enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses of the Coronaviridae family. Proteases of SARS-CoV-2 are necessary for viral replication, structural assembly, and pathogenicity. The approximately 33.8 kDa Mpro protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a non-human homologue and is highly conserved among several coronaviruses, indicating that Mpro could be a potential drug target for Coronaviruses. Methods: Herein, we performed computational ligand screening of four pharmacophores (OEW, remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine and N3) that are presumed to have positive effects against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease (6LU7), and also screened 50,000 natural compounds from the ZINC Database dataset against this protease target. Results: We found 40 pharmacophore-like structures of natural compounds from diverse chemical classes that exhibited better affinity of docking as compared to the known ligands. The 11 best selected ligands, namely ZINC1845382, ZINC1875405, ZINC2092396, ZINC2104424, ZINC44018332, ZINC2101723, ZINC2094526, ZINC2094304, ZINC2104482, ZINC3984030, and ZINC1531664, are mainly classified as beta-carboline, alkaloids, and polyflavonoids, and all displayed interactions with dyad CYS145 and HIS41 from the protease pocket in a similar way as other known ligands. Conclusions: Our results suggest that these 11 molecules could be effective against SARS-CoV-2 protease and may be subsequently tested in vitro and in vivo to develop novel drugs against this virus.



Author(s):  
Bruno Andrade ◽  
Preetam Ghosh ◽  
Debmalya Barth ◽  
Sandeep Tiwari ◽  
Raner José Santana Silva ◽  
...  

Background: SARS-CoV-2 that are the causal agent of a current pandemic are enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses of the Coronaviridae family. Proteases of SARS-CoV-2 are necessary for viral replication, structural assembly and pathogenicity. The ~33.8KDa Mpro protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a non-human homologue and highly conserved among several coronaviruses indicating Mpro could be a potential drug target for Coronaviruses.Methods: Here we performed computational ligand screening of four pharmacophores (OEW, Remdesivir, Hydroxycholoquine and N3) that are presumed to have positive effects against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease (6LU7) and also screened 50,000 molecules from the ZINC Database dataset against this protease target.Results: We found 40 pharmacophore-like structures of natural compounds from diverse chemical classes that exhibited better affinity of docking as compared to the known ligands. The 10 best selected ligands namely, ZINC1845382, ZINC1875405, ZINC2092396, ZINC2104424, ZINC44018332, ZINC2101723, ZINC2094526, ZINC2094304, ZINC2104482, ZINC3984030, and ZINC1531664, are mainly classified as β-carboline, Alkaloids and Polyflavonoids, and all of them displayed interactions with dyad CYS145 and HIS41 from the protease pocket in a similar way as with other known ligands.Conclusion: Our results suggest that these 10 molecules could be effective against SARS-CoV-2 protease and may be tested in vitro and in vivo to develop novel drugs against this virus.



Author(s):  
Bruno Andrade ◽  
Preetam Ghosh ◽  
Debmalya Barth ◽  
Sandeep Tiwari ◽  
Raner José Santana Silva ◽  
...  

Background: SARS-CoV-2 that are the causal agent of a current pandemic are enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses of the Coronaviridae family. Proteases of SARS-CoV-2 are necessary for viral replication, structural assembly and pathogenicity. The ~33.8KDa Mpro protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a non-human homologue and highly conserved among several coronaviruses indicating Mpro could be a potential drug target for Coronaviruses.Methods: Here we performed computational ligand screening of four pharmacophores (OEW, Remdesivir, Hydroxycholoquine and N3) that are presumed to have positive effects against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease (6LU7) and also screened 50,000 molecules from the ZINC Database dataset against this protease target.Results: We found 40 pharmacophore-like structures of natural compounds from diverse chemical classes that exhibited better affinity of docking as compared to the known ligands. The 10 best selected ligands namely, ZINC1845382, ZINC1875405, ZINC2092396, ZINC2104424, ZINC44018332, ZINC2101723, ZINC2094526, ZINC2094304, ZINC2104482, ZINC3984030, and ZINC1531664, are mainly classified as β-carboline, Alkaloids and Polyflavonoids, and all of them displayed interactions with dyad CYS145 and HIS41 from the protease pocket in a similar way as with other known ligands.Conclusion: Our results suggest that these 10 molecules could be effective against SARS-CoV-2 protease and may be tested in vitro and in vivo to develop novel drugs against this virus.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Johansen-Leete ◽  
Sven Ullrich ◽  
Sarah Fry ◽  
Rebecca Frkic ◽  
Max Bedding ◽  
...  

Antivirals that specifically target SARS-CoV-2 are needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The main protease (Mpro) is essential for SARS-CoV-2 replication and is an attractive target for antiviral development. Here we report the use of the Random nonstandard Peptide Integrated Discovery (RaPID) mRNA display on a chemically cross-linked SARS-CoV-2 Mpro dimer, which yielded several high-affinity thioether-linked cyclic peptide inhibitors of the protease. Structural analysis of Mpro complexed with a selenoether analogue of the highest-affinity peptide revealed key binding interactions, including glutamine and leucine residues in sites S1 and S2, respectively, and a binding epitope straddling both protein chains in the physiological dimer. Several of these Mpro peptide inhibitors possessed antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro with EC50 values in the low micromolar range. These cyclic peptides serve as a foundation for the development of much needed antivirals that specifically target SARS-CoV-2.



Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 391
Author(s):  
Mahmoud A. A. Ibrahim ◽  
Alaa H. M. Abdelrahman ◽  
Mohamed A. M. Atia ◽  
Tarik A. Mohamed ◽  
Mahmoud F. Moustafa ◽  
...  

The coronavirus pandemic has affected more than 150 million people, while over 3.25 million people have died from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As there are no established therapies for COVID-19 treatment, drugs that inhibit viral replication are a promising target; specifically, the main protease (Mpro) that process CoV-encoded polyproteins serves as an Achilles heel for assembly of replication-transcription machinery as well as down-stream viral replication. In the search for potential antiviral drugs that target Mpro, a series of cembranoid diterpenes from the biologically active soft-coral genus Sarcophyton have been examined as SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors. Over 360 metabolites from the genus were screened using molecular docking calculations. Promising diterpenes were further characterized by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) binding energy calculations. According to in silico calculations, five cembranoid diterpenes manifested adequate binding affinities as Mpro inhibitors with ΔGbinding < −33.0 kcal/mol. Binding energy and structural analyses of the most potent Sarcophyton inhibitor, bislatumlide A (340), was compared to darunavir, an HIV protease inhibitor that has been recently subjected to clinical-trial as an anti-COVID-19 drug. In silico analysis indicates that 340 has a higher binding affinity against Mpro than darunavir with ΔGbinding values of −43.8 and −34.8 kcal/mol, respectively throughout 100 ns MD simulations. Drug-likeness calculations revealed robust bioavailability and protein-protein interactions were identified for 340; biochemical signaling genes included ACE, MAPK14 and ESR1 as identified based on a STRING database. Pathway enrichment analysis combined with reactome mining revealed that 340 has the capability to re-modulate the p38 MAPK pathway hijacked by SARS-CoV-2 and antagonize injurious effects. These findings justify further in vivo and in vitro testing of 340 as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2.



Author(s):  
Shovonlal Bhowmick ◽  
Achintya Saha ◽  
Sameh Mohamed Osman ◽  
Fatmah Ali Alasmary ◽  
Tahani Mazyad Almutairi ◽  
...  

Abstract Worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is still threatening global health since its outbreak first reported in the late 2019. The causative novel virus has been designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although COVID-19 emergent with significant mortality, there is no availability of definite treatment measures. It is now extremely desirable to identify potential chemical entities against SARS-CoV-2 for the treatment of COVID-19. In the present study, a state-of-art virtual screening protocol was implemented on three anti-viral specific chemical libraries against SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). Particularly, viewing the large-scale biological role of Mpro in the viral replication process it has been considered as a prospective anti-viral drug target. Herein, on collected 79,892 compounds, hierarchical multistep docking followed by relative binding free energy estimation has been performed. Thereafter, implying a user-defined XP-dock and MM-GBSA cut-off scores as −8.00 and −45.00 kcal/mol, chemical space has been further reduced. Exhaustive molecular binding interactions analyses and various pharmacokinetics profiles assessment suggested four compounds (ChemDiv_D658-0159, ChemDiv_F431-0433, Enamine_Z3019991843 and Asinex_LAS_51389260) as potent inhibitors/modulators of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. In-depth protein–ligand interactions stability in the dynamic state has been evaluated by 100 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies along with MM-GBSA-based binding free energy estimations of entire simulation trajectories that have revealed strong binding affinity of all identified compounds towards Mpro. Hence, all four identified compounds might be considered as promising candidates for future drug development specifically targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro; however, they also need experimental assessment for a better understanding of molecular interaction mechanisms. Graphic abstract



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