scholarly journals In silico Repositioning for Dual Inhibitor Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) 3C-like Protease and Papain-like Peptidase

Author(s):  
Kowsar Bagherzadeh ◽  
Kourosh Daneshvarnejad ◽  
Mohammad Abbasinazari ◽  
homa azizian

Aims: In late December 2019, early reports predicted the onset of a potential Coronavirus outbreak in china, given the estimate of a reproduction number for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Because of high ability of transmission and widespread prevalence, the mortality of COVID-19 infection is growing fast worldwide. Absent of an anti-COVID-19 has put scientists on the urge to repurpose already approved therapeutics or to find new active compounds against coronavirus. Here in this study, a set of computational approaches were performed in order to repurpose antivirals for dual inhibition of the frontier proteases involved in virus replication, papain-like protease (PLpro; corresponding to nsp3) and a main protease (Mpro), 3C‑like protease (3CLpro; corresponding to nsp5). Materials and Methods: In this regard, a rational virtual screening procedure including exhaustive docking techniques was performed for a database of 160 antiviral agents over 3CLpro and PLpro active sites of SARS-CoV-2. The compounds binding energies and interaction modes over 3CLpro and PLpro active sites were analyzed and ranked with the aid of free Gibbs binding energy. The most potent compounds, based on our filtering process, are then proposed as dual inhibitors of SARSC-CoV-2 proteases. Key findings: Accordingly, seven antiviral agents including two FDA approved (Nelfinavir, Valaganciclovir) and five investigational compounds (Merimepodib, Inarigivir, Remdesivir, Taribavirine and TAS106-106) are proposed as potential dual inhibitors of the enzymes necessary for RNA replication in which Remdesivir as well as Inagrivir have the highest binding affinity for both of the active sites. Significance: The mentioned drug proposed to inhibit both PLpro and 3CLpro enzymes with the aim of finding dual inhibitors of SARSC-CoV-2 proteases.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikolaj Zmudzinski ◽  
Wioletta Rut ◽  
Kamila Olech ◽  
Jarosław Granda ◽  
Mirosław Giurg ◽  
...  

AbstractProteases encoded by SARS-CoV-2 constitute a promising target for new therapies against COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro, 3CLpro) and papain-like protease (PLpro) are responsible for viral polyprotein cleavage - a process crucial for viral survival and replication. Recently it was shown that 2-phenylbenzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (ebselen), an organoselenium anti-inflammatory small-molecule drug, is a potent, covalent inhibitor of both the proteases and its potency was evaluated in enzymatic and anti-viral assays. In this study, we screened a collection of 23 ebselen derivatives for SARS-CoV-2 PLpro and Mpro inhibitors. Our studies revealed that ebselen derivatives are potent inhibitors of both the proteases. We identified three PLpro and four Mpro inhibitors superior to ebselen. Our work shows that ebselen constitutes a promising platform for development of new antiviral agents targeting both SARS-CoV-2 PLpro and Mpro.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhik Kumar Ray ◽  
Parth Sarthi Sen Gupta ◽  
Saroj Kumar Panda ◽  
Satyaranjan Biswal ◽  
Malay Kumar Rana

<p>COVID-19, responsible for several deaths, demands a cumulative effort of scientists worldwide to curb the pandemic. The main protease, responsible for the cleavage of the polyprotein and formation of replication complex in virus, is considered as a promising target for the development of potential inhibitors to treat the novel coronavirus. The effectiveness of FDA approved drugs targeting the main protease in previous SARS-COV (s) reported earlier indicates the chances of success for the repurposing of FDA drugs against SARS-COV-2. Therefore, in this study, molecular docking and virtual screening of FDA approved drugs, primarily of three categories: antiviral, antimalarial, and peptide, are carried out to investigate their inhibitory potential against the main protease. Virtual screening has identified 53 FDA drugs on the basis of their binding energies (< -7.0 kcal/mol), out of which the top two drugs Velpatasvir (-9.1 kcal/mol) and Glecaprevir (-9.0 kcal/mol) seem to have great promise. These drugs have a stronger affinity to the SARS-CoV-2 main protease than the crystal bound inhibitor α-ketoamide 13B (-6.7 kcal/mol) or Indinavir (-7.5 kcal/mol) that has been proposed in a recent study as one of the best drugs for SARS-CoV-2. The <i>in-silico</i> efficacies of the screened drugs could be instructive for further biochemical and structural investigation for repurposing. The molecular dynamics studies on the shortlisted drugs are underway. </p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (17) ◽  
pp. 9427
Author(s):  
Simone Di Micco ◽  
Simona Musella ◽  
Marina Sala ◽  
Maria C. Scala ◽  
Graciela Andrei ◽  
...  

A novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been identified as the pathogen responsible for the outbreak of a severe, rapidly developing pneumonia (Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19). The virus enzyme, called 3CLpro or main protease (Mpro), is essential for viral replication, making it a most promising target for antiviral drug development. Recently, we adopted the drug repurposing as appropriate strategy to give fast response to global COVID-19 epidemic, by demonstrating that the zonulin octapeptide inhibitor AT1001 (Larazotide acetate) binds Mpro catalytic domain. Thus, in the present study we tried to investigate the antiviral activity of AT1001, along with five derivatives, by cell-based assays. Our results provide with the identification of AT1001 peptide molecular framework for lead optimization step to develop new generations of antiviral agents of SARS-CoV-2 with an improved biological activity, expanding the chance for success in clinical trials.


Author(s):  
Igors Dubanevics ◽  
Tom C.B. McLeish

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has generated a global pandemic and no vaccine or antiviral drugs exist at the moment of writing. An attractive coronavirus drug target is the main protease (Mpro, also known as 3CLpro) because of its vital role in the viral cycle. A significant body of work has been focused on finding inhibitors which bind and block the active site of the main protease, but little has been done to address potential non-competitive inhibition which targets regions beyond the active site, partly because the fundamental biophysics of such allosteric control is still poorly understood. In this work, we construct an Elastic Network Model (ENM) of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro homodimer protein and analyse the dynamics and thermodynamics of the main protease’s ENM. We found a rich and heterogeneous dynamical structure in the correlated motions, including allosterically correlated motions between the homodimeric protease’s active sites. Exhaustive 1-point and 2-point mutation scans of the ENM and their effect on fluctuation free energies confirm previously experimentally identified bioactive residues, but also suggest several new candidate regions that are distant from the active site for control of the protease function. Our results suggest new dynamically-driven control regions as possible candidates for non-competitive inhibiting binding sites in the protease, which may assist the development of current fragmentbased binding screens. The results also provide new insight into the protein physics of fluctuation allostery and its underpinning dynamical structure.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
Sameh S. Elhady ◽  
Reda F. A. Abdelhameed ◽  
Rania T. Malatani ◽  
Abdulrahman M. Alahdal ◽  
Hanin A. Bogari ◽  
...  

Presently, the world is under the toll of pandemic coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-2. Lack of effective and safe therapeutics has stressed the scientific community for developing novel therapeutics capable of alleviating and stopping this pandemic. Within the presented study, molecular docking, ADME properties and all-atom molecular dynamic (MD) simulation, along with two standard antiviral agents (lopinavir and benzopurpurin-4B), were applied to investigate 15 scalaranes sesterterpenes natural compounds, purified from the Red Sea marine sponge Hyrtios erectus, as potential COVID-19 dual-target inhibitors. Following multi-step docking within COVID-19 main protease and Nsp15 endoribonuclease cavities, nine promising drug-like compounds exhibited higher docking scores as well as better interactions with the target’s crucial residues than those of reference ligands. Compounds 2, 6, 11, and 15, were predicted to simultaneously subdue the activity of the two COVID-19 targets. Dynamics behavior of the best-docked molecules, compounds 15 and 6, within COVID-19 target pockets showed substantial stability of ligand-protein complexes as presented via several MD simulation parameters. Furthermore, calculated free-binding energies from MD simulation illustrated significant ligand’s binding affinity towards respective target pockets. All provided findings supported the utility of scalarane-based sesterterpenes, particularly compounds 15 and 6, as promising lead candidates guiding the development of effective therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2.


Author(s):  
Shoab Saadat ◽  
Salman Mansoor ◽  
Naveen Naqvi ◽  
Ammad Fahim ◽  
Zaira Rehman ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundThe current Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is the third major outbreak of the 21st century which emerged in December 2019 from Wuhan, China. At present there are no known treatments or vaccines to cure or prevent the illness.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to explore a list of potential drugs (herbal and antivirals) for their role in inhibiting activity and or replication of SARS-CoV-2 by using molecular docking onto the crystal structures of key viral proteins.MethodologyIn this study, we used molecular docking to estimate the binding affinities of 3699 drugs on the potential active sites of the 6 main SARS-CoV-2 proteins (Papain like protease, Main protease, ADP Ribose phosphatase, Spike protein, NSP-9 and NSP-10 to 16 complex). While other studies have mostly been performed on the homology models, we obtained the most recently submitted crystal structures of all 6 proteins from the protein data bank for this analysis.ResultsOur results showed the top ligands as Theasinensin A, Epigallocatechin, Theaflavin, Theasinensin A, Epigallocatechin and Favipiravir showing the highest binding affinities against papain-like protease, ADP ribose phosphatase, main protease, spike protein, RNA replicase (NSP-9) and methyl-transferase (NSP-16) respectively.ConclusionWe show that the compounds from our list with the greatest inhibitory potential against SARS-CoV-2 activity or replication include Theasinensin A, Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, Theaflavin, Favipiravir, Curucumin, Quercetin, Mitoxantrone, Amentoflavone, Colistin, Cimicifugic acid, Theaflavin, Silymarin and Chebulagic. We recommend further wet-lab and clinical testing of these compounds to further explore their role against SARS-CoV-2.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levent Çavaş ◽  
Cengizhan Dag ◽  
Miguel Carmena-Barreño ◽  
Carlos Martínez-Cortés ◽  
José Pedro Cerón-Carrasco ◽  
...  

<p>SARS-CoV-2 has been exhibiting extremely spreading property all around the world since its existence from Wuhan-China in December-2019. Although it has caused a death toll of over than 1.3 M people, no validated vaccine has been proposed yet. On the other hand, very dense studies on the vaccine development have been carrying out in some countries such as the US, Germany, UK, China and Russia. Due to side effects of current antiviral agents used in the therapy of COVID-19, there is a great need for the development of alternative compounds for this disease. Caulerpin (CPN) and caulerpenyne (CYN), predominant natural secondary metabolites from invasive marine green algae <i>Caulerpa cylindracea,</i>are proposed to neutralize the virus from two targets: spike protein (5XLR) and main protease (6YB7) in this study. The results show that the binding energies related to CPN-6YB7 and CYN-6YB7 interactions are found to be -8.02 kcal/mol and -6.83 kcal/mol, respectively. The binding energies were -9.68 kcal/mol and -7.53 kcal/mol, respectively, for CPN-5XLR and CYN-5XLR. In the molecular dynamics results, RMSD values show that CPN and CYN can form stable complexes with the proteins where CYN is more stable with 6YB7 and CPN interacts better with 5XLR. These differences seem to be based on the type of interactions of the complexes. In conclusion, caulerpin and caulerpenyne can further be investigated experimentally for their anti-SARS-CoV-2 efficiency. </p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levent Çavaş ◽  
Cengizhan Dag ◽  
Miguel Carmena-Bargueño ◽  
Carlos Martínez-Cortés ◽  
José Pedro Cerón-Carrasco ◽  
...  

<p>SARS-CoV-2 has been exhibiting extremely spreading property all around the world since its existence from Wuhan-China in December-2019. Although it has caused a death toll of over than 1.3 M people, no validated vaccine has been proposed yet. On the other hand, very dense studies on the vaccine development have been carrying out in some countries such as the US, Germany, UK, China and Russia. Due to side effects of current antiviral agents used in the therapy of COVID-19, there is a great need for the development of alternative compounds for this disease. Caulerpin (CPN) and caulerpenyne (CYN), predominant natural secondary metabolites from invasive marine green algae <i>Caulerpa cylindracea,</i>are proposed to neutralize the virus from two targets: spike protein (5XLR) and main protease (6YB7) in this study. The results show that the binding energies related to CPN-6YB7 and CYN-6YB7 interactions are found to be -8.02 kcal/mol and -6.83 kcal/mol, respectively. The binding energies were -9.68 kcal/mol and -7.53 kcal/mol, respectively, for CPN-5XLR and CYN-5XLR. In the molecular dynamics results, RMSD values show that CPN and CYN can form stable complexes with the proteins where CYN is more stable with 6YB7 and CPN interacts better with 5XLR. These differences seem to be based on the type of interactions of the complexes. In conclusion, caulerpin and caulerpenyne can further be investigated experimentally for their anti-SARS-CoV-2 efficiency. </p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shravan Kumar Gunda ◽  
Hima Kumari P ◽  
Gourav Choudhir ◽  
Anuj Kumar ◽  
P B. Kavi Kishor ◽  
...  

Abstract Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 is known for its high pathogenicity and transmission due to thepresence of polybasic cleavage sites. No specific drug is available for the treatment. To identifythe potential inhibitors, we have performed molecular docking against the SARS-CoV-2 mainprotease (6Y84) with fifteen important natural xanthone compounds. The docking results showedall the compounds exhibited good binding energies and interactions with the main protease. Thevalidation of representative docking complexes through molecular dynamics simulations showedthat xanthones binds with a higher binding affinity and lower free energy than the standardligand with Brasixanthone C and Brasixanthone B on 50 ns. Natural xanthone compounds havealso passed the Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion (ADME) property criteriaas well as Lipinski’s rule of five. The present integrated molecular docking and dynamicssimulations study unveil the use of xanthones as potential antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanuja Joshi ◽  
Priyanka Sharma ◽  
Tushar Joshi ◽  
Hemlata Pundir ◽  
Shalini Mathpal ◽  
...  

Abstract Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and massing death caused by it all over world has imposed great concern on scientific community to develop potential drugs to combat with Coronaviruas disease 19 ( COVID-19 ). In this regard, lichen metabolites may offer a vast reservoir for discovery of anti-viral drug candidates. Therefore to find novel compounds against COVID-19, we created a library of 412 lichen compounds and subjected to virtual screening against two molecular targets; SARS-CoV-2 target- Main protease (Mpro) and host cell target- Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). All the ligands were virtually screened, and 80 compounds were found to have better docking score with both the targets. These compounds were assessed for druglikeness analysis where 27 compounds were found to fit well for redocking studies. The results of redocking by X-Score showed that 7 out of 27 compounds were found to have high affinities with Mpro as well ACE2 which reflect that these compounds can function as dual inhibitors. Molecular docking, druglikeness, X-Score and toxicity analysis resulting seven novel lichen compounds (Orcinyllecanorate, Siphulin, Fremontol, Gyrophoric acid, Rhizocarpic acid, Ovoic acid, and Umbilicaric acid) with Mpro and ACE2 multi-target activities and they can be used as hit compounds to develop potential antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2. These lichen compounds may be a suitable candidate for further experimental analysis.


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