scholarly journals Computational approach towards the design of artemisinin–thymoquinone hybrids against main protease of SARS-COV-2

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Moreira de Oliveira ◽  
Matheus Nunes da Rocha ◽  
Emanuel Paula Magalhães ◽  
Francisco Rogênio da Silva Mendes ◽  
Márcia Machado Marinho ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The sanitary emergency installed in the world, generated by the pandemic of COVID-19, instigates the search for scientific strategies to mitigate the damage caused by the disease to different sectors of society. The disease caused by the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, reached 216 countries/territories, where about 199 million people were reported with the infection. Of these, more than 4 million died. In this sense, strategies involving the development of new antiviral molecules are extremely important. The main protease (Mpro) from SARS-CoV-2 is an important target, which has been widely studied for antiviral treatment. This work aims to perform a screening of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of synthetic hybrids from thymoquinone and artemisin (THY-ART) against COVID-19. Results Molecular docking studies indicated that hybrids of artemisinin and thymoquinone showed a relevant interaction with the active fraction of the enzyme Mpro, when compared to the reference drugs. Furthermore, hybrids show an improvement in the interaction of substances with the enzyme, mainly due to the higher frequency of interactions with the Thr199 residue. ADMET studies indicated that hybrids tend to permeate biological membranes, allowing good human intestinal absorption, with low partition to the central nervous system, potentiation for CYP-450 enzyme inhibitors, low risk of toxicity compared to commercially available drugs, considering mainly mutagenicity and cardiotoxicity, low capacity of hybrids to permeate the blood–brain barrier, high absorption and moderate permeability in Caco-2 cells. In addition, T1–T7 tend to have a better distribution of their available fractions to carry out diffusion and transport across cell membranes, as well as increase the energy of interaction with the SARS-CoV-2 target. Conclusions Hybrid products of artemisinin and thymoquinone have the potential to inhibit Mpro, with desirable pharmacokinetic and toxicity characteristics compared to commercially available drugs, being indicated for preclinical and subsequent clinical studies against SARS-CoV-2. Emphasizing the possibility of synergistic use with currently used drugs in order to increase half-life and generate a possible synergistic effect. This work represents an important step for the development of specific drugs against COVID-19.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 3780-3801

The widespread global COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of specific treatment and the urgent situation requires the use of all resources to remedy this scourge. The current study aimed to use molecular docking tools to find potential drug candidates for treatment. The pyrano[2,3-c] pyrazole 5(a-e) was targeted against the Main protease (Mpro), which plays a vital role in the replication and transcription of the Corona viral genome. The 3CL Protease (PDB ID 6LU7) was modeled, and the compounds were docked using Autodock Vina software, and ADMET data have been studied. All synthesized compounds were well engaged into the active site of the main protease with strong hydrogen bond interaction and a good score of energy. The 5b have been classed as the best inhibitor with an energy score of -6.2 kcal/mol, similar to the one given by chloroquine (-6.2Kcal/mol). Moreover, the molecular interaction studies showed that protease structure had multiple active site residues for all studied compounds. Our finding confirms the potential of these derivatives as lead compounds against the selected target protein of coronavirus, which needs further analysis and dynamic simulation studies to propose then develop a new antiviral treatment.


Author(s):  
Ashish Shah ◽  
Vaishali Patel ◽  
Bhumika Parmar

Background: Novel Corona virus is a type of enveloped viruses with a single stranded RNA enclosing helical nucleocapsid. The envelope consists of spikes on the surface which are made up of proteins through which virus enters into human cells. Until now there is no specific drug or vaccine available to treat COVID-19 infection. In this scenario, reposting of drug or active molecules may provide rapid solution to fight against this deadly disease. Objective: We had selected 30 phytoconstituents from the different plants which are reported for antiviral activities against corona virus (CoVs) and performed insilico screening to find out phytoconstituents which have potency to inhibit specific target of novel corona virus. Methods: We had perform molecular docking studies on three different proteins of novel corona virus namely COVID-19 main protease (3CL pro), papain-like protease (PL pro) and spike protein (S) attached to ACE2 binding domain. The screening of the phytoconstituents on the basis of binding affinity compared to standard drugs. The validations of screened compounds were done using ADMET and bioactivity prediction. Results: We had screened five compounds biscoclaurine, norreticuline, amentoflavone, licoricidin and myricetin using insilico approach. All compounds found safe in insilico toxicity studies. Bioactivity prediction reviles that these all compounds may act through protease or enzyme inhibition. Results of compound biscoclaurine norreticuline were more interesting as this biscoclaurine had higher binding affinity for the target 3CLpro and PLpro targets and norreticuline had higher binding affinity for the target PLpro and Spike protein. Conclusion: Our study concludes that these compounds could be further explored rapidly as it may have potential to fight against COVID-19.


Author(s):  
Jainey James ◽  
Divya Jyothi ◽  
Sneh Priya

Aims: The present study aim was to analyse the molecular interactions of the phytoconstituents known for their antiviral activity with the SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural proteins such as main protease (6LU7), Nsp12 polymerase (6M71), and Nsp13 helicase (6JYT). The applied in silico methodologies was molecular docking and pharmacophore modeling using Schrodinger software. Methods: The phytoconstituents were taken from PubChem, and SARS-CoV-2 proteins were downloaded from the protein data bank. The molecular interactions, binding energy, ADMET properties and pharmacophoric features were analysed by glide XP, prime MM-GBSA, qikprop and phase application of Schrodinger respectively. The antiviral activity of the selected phytoconstituents was carried out by PASS predictor, online tools. Results: The docking score analysis showed that quercetin 3-rhamnoside (-8.77 kcal/mol) and quercetin 3-rhamnoside (-7.89 kcal/mol) as excellent products to bind with their respective targets such as 6LU7, 6M71 and 6JYT. The generated pharmacophore hypothesis model validated the docking results, confirming the hydrogen bonding interactions of the amino acids. The PASS online tool predicted constituent's antiviral potentials. Conclusion: The docked phytoconstituents showed excellent interactions with the SARS-CoV-2 proteins, and on the outset, quercetin 3-rhamnoside and quercetin 7-rhamnoside have well-interacted with all the three proteins, and these belong to the plant Houttuynia cordata. The pharmacophore hypothesis has revealed the characteristic features responsible for their interactions, and PASS prediction data has supported their antiviral activities. Thus, these natural compounds could be developed as lead molecules for antiviral treatment against SARS-CoV-2. Further in-vitro and in-vivo studies could be carried out to provide better drug therapy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tek Narsingh Malla ◽  
Suraj Pandey ◽  
Ishwor Poudyal ◽  
Luis Aldama ◽  
Dennis Feliz ◽  
...  

There is an urgent need for anti-viral agents that treat and/or prevent Covid-19 caused by SARS-Coronavirus (CoV-2) infections. The replication of the SARS CoV-2 is dependent on the activity of two cysteine proteases, a papain-like protease, PL-pro, and the 3C-like protease known as main protease Mpro or 3CLpro. The shortest and the safest path to clinical use is the repurposing of drugs with binding affinity to PLpro or 3CLpro that have an established safety profile in humans. Several studies have reported crystal structures of SARS-CoV-2 main protease in complex with FDA approved drugs such as those used in treatment of hepatitis C. Here, we report the crystal structure of 3CLpro in complex Vitamin C (L-ascorbate) bound to the protein's active site at 2.5 Angstrom resolution. We also demonstrate that L-ascorbate inhibits the 3CLpro in vitro at mmol/L concentrations. The crystal structure of the Vitamin C 3CLpro complex may aid future studies on the effect of Vitamin C not only on the coronavirus main protease but on related proteases of other infectious viruses. Since ascorbate is readily available, as an over-the-counter vitamin supplement, our results have the potential for development of a global and inexpensive antiviral treatment.


Author(s):  
Vinay Kumar ◽  
Achintya Saha

In this research, we have developed two-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (2D-QSAR) and group-based QSAR (GQSAR) models employing a dataset of 78 carbamate derivatives (acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibitors). The developed models were validated using various stringent validation parameters. From the insights obtained from the developed 2D-QSAR and GQSAR models, we have found that the structural features appearing in the models are responsible for the enhancement of the inhibitory activity against the AChE enzyme. Furthermore, we have performed the pharmacophore modeling to unveil the structural requirements for the inhibitory activity. Additionally, molecular docking studies were performed to understand the molecular interactions involved in binding, and the results are then correlated with the requisite structural features obtained from the QSAR and pharmacophore models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rounak Chourasia ◽  
Srichandan Padhi ◽  
Loreni Chiring Phukon ◽  
Md Minhajul Abedin ◽  
Sudhir P. Singh ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by novel SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in an unprecedented loss of lives and economy around the world. In this study, search for potential inhibitors against two of the best characterized SARS-CoV-2 drug targets: S1 glycoprotein receptor-binding domain (RBD) and main protease (3CLPro), was carried out using the soy cheese peptides. A total of 1,420 peptides identified from the cheese peptidome produced using Lactobacillus delbrueckii WS4 were screened for antiviral activity by employing the web tools, AVPpred, and meta-iAVP. Molecular docking studies of the selected peptides revealed one potential peptide “KFVPKQPNMIL” that demonstrated strong affinity toward significant amino acid residues responsible for the host cell entry (RBD) and multiplication (3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2. The peptide was also assessed for its ability to interact with the critical residues of S1 RBD and 3CLpro of other β-coronaviruses. High binding affinity was observed toward critical amino acids of both the targeted proteins in SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and HCoV-HKU1. The binding energy of KFVPKQPNMIL against RBD and 3CLpro of the four viruses ranged from −8.45 to −26.8 kcal/mol and −15.22 to −22.85 kcal/mol, respectively. The findings conclude that cheese, produced by using Lb. delbrueckii WS4, could be explored as a prophylactic food for SARS-CoV-2 and related viruses. In addition, the multi-target inhibitor peptide, which effectively inhibited both the viral proteins, could further be used as a terminus a quo for the in vitro and in vivo function against SARS-CoV-2.


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