scholarly journals Natural Products-Based Drug Design against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro 3CLpro

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 11739
Author(s):  
Rai C. Silva ◽  
Humberto F. Freitas ◽  
Joaquín M. Campos ◽  
Njogu M. Kimani ◽  
Carlos H. T. P. Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Main Protease ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Catalytic Cysteine

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has received global attention due to the serious threat it poses to public health. Since the outbreak in December 2019, millions of people have been affected and its rapid global spread has led to an upsurge in the search for treatment. To discover hit compounds that can be used alone or in combination with repositioned drugs, we first analyzed the pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of natural products from Brazil’s semiarid region. After, we analyzed the site prediction and druggability of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), followed by docking and molecular dynamics simulation. The best SARS-CoV-2 Mpro complexes revealed that other sites were accessed, confirming that our approach could be employed as a suitable starting protocol for ligand prioritization, reinforcing the importance of catalytic cysteine-histidine residues and providing new structural data that could increase the antiviral development mainly against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we selected 10 molecules that could be in vitro assayed in response to COVID-19. Two compounds (b01 and b02) suggest a better potential for interaction with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and could be further studied.

scholarly journals Novel Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 Identified via a Molecular Dynamics Simulation-Guided in Vitro Assay

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Loschwitz ◽  
Anna Jäckering ◽  
Monika Keutmann ◽  
Maryam Olagunju ◽  
Raphael J. Eberle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Significant Activity ◽  
Vitro Assay ◽  
Protease Enzyme ◽  
Main Protease ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

<div>For the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, there are currently no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this coronavirus infection. In this study, we focus on the main protease enzyme of SARS-CoV-2, 3CL pro , which is critical for viral replication. We employ explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations of about 150 compounds docked into 3CL pro ’s binding site and that had emerged as good main protease ligands from our previous in silico screening of over 1.2 million compounds. By incoporating protein dynamics and applying a range of structural descriptors, such as the ability to form specific contacts with the catalytic dyad residues of 3CL pro and the structural fluctuations of the ligands in the binding site, we are able to further refine our compound selection. Fourteen compounds including estradiol shown to be the most promising based on our calculations were procured and screened against recombinant 3CL pro in a fluorescence assay. Eight of these compounds have significant activity in inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Among these are corilagin, a gallotannin, and lurasidone, an antipsychotic drug, which emerged as the most promising natural product and drug, respectively, and might thus be candidates for drug repurposing for the treatment of COVID-19. In addition, we also tested the inhibitory activity of testosterone, and our results reveal testosterone as possessing moderate inhibitory potency against the 3CL pro enzyme, which may thus provide an explanation why older men are more severely affected by COVID-19.</div>

scholarly journals Novel inhibitors of the main protease enzyme of SARS-CoV-2 identified via molecular dynamics simulation-guided in vitro assay

2021 ◽  
pp. 104862
Author(s):  
Jennifer Loschwitz ◽  
Anna Jäckering ◽  
Monika Keutmann ◽  
Maryam Olagunju ◽  
Raphael J. Eberle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulation ◽  
In Vitro Assay ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Vitro Assay ◽  
Protease Enzyme ◽  
Main Protease

scholarly journals Novel Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 Identified via a Molecular Dynamics Simulation-Guided in Vitro Assay

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Loschwitz ◽  
Anna Jäckering ◽  
Monika Keutmann ◽  
Maryam Olagunju ◽  
Raphael J. Eberle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Significant Activity ◽  
Vitro Assay ◽  
Protease Enzyme ◽  
Main Protease ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

<div>For the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, there are currently no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this coronavirus infection. In this study, we focus on the main protease enzyme of SARS-CoV-2, 3CL pro , which is critical for viral replication. We employ explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations of about 150 compounds docked into 3CL pro ’s binding site and that had emerged as good main protease ligands from our previous in silico screening of over 1.2 million compounds. By incoporating protein dynamics and applying a range of structural descriptors, such as the ability to form specific contacts with the catalytic dyad residues of 3CL pro and the structural fluctuations of the ligands in the binding site, we are able to further refine our compound selection. Fourteen compounds including estradiol shown to be the most promising based on our calculations were procured and screened against recombinant 3CL pro in a fluorescence assay. Eight of these compounds have significant activity in inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Among these are corilagin, a gallotannin, and lurasidone, an antipsychotic drug, which emerged as the most promising natural product and drug, respectively, and might thus be candidates for drug repurposing for the treatment of COVID-19. In addition, we also tested the inhibitory activity of testosterone, and our results reveal testosterone as possessing moderate inhibitory potency against the 3CL pro enzyme, which may thus provide an explanation why older men are more severely affected by COVID-19.</div>

scholarly journals Identification of 3-chymotrypsin like protease (3CLPro) inhibitors as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky Mody ◽  
Joanna Ho ◽  
Savannah Wills ◽  
Ahmed Mawri ◽  
Latasha Lawson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Simulation Studies ◽  
Inhibitory Effects ◽  
Major Threat ◽  
Main Protease ◽  
Approved Drugs ◽  
Fda Approved Drugs ◽  
Computational Molecular Modeling

AbstractEmerging outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a major threat to public health. The morbidity is increasing due to lack of SARS-CoV-2 specific drugs. Herein, we have identified potential drugs that target the 3-chymotrypsin like protease (3CLpro), the main protease that is pivotal for the replication of SARS-CoV-2. Computational molecular modeling was used to screen 3987 FDA approved drugs, and 47 drugs were selected to study their inhibitory effects on SARS-CoV-2 specific 3CLpro enzyme in vitro. Our results indicate that boceprevir, ombitasvir, paritaprevir, tipranavir, ivermectin, and micafungin exhibited inhibitory effect towards 3CLpro enzymatic activity. The 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation studies showed that ivermectin may require homodimeric form of 3CLpro enzyme for its inhibitory activity. In summary, these molecules could be useful to develop highly specific therapeutically viable drugs to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 replication either alone or in combination with drugs specific for other SARS-CoV-2 viral targets.

scholarly journals Identification of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Compounds from Food Using QSAR-Based Virtual Screening, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 357
Author(s):  
Magdi E. A. Zaki ◽  
Sami A. Al-Hussain ◽  
Vijay H. Masand ◽  
Siddhartha Akasapu ◽  
Sumit O. Bajaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Molecular Docking ◽  
Virtual Screening ◽  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Qsar Model ◽  
Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Multilinear Regression ◽  
Qsar Analysis ◽  
Main Protease

Due to the genetic similarity between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, the present work endeavored to derive a balanced Quantitative Structure−Activity Relationship (QSAR) model, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies to identify novel molecules having inhibitory potential against the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2. The QSAR analysis developed on multivariate GA–MLR (Genetic Algorithm–Multilinear Regression) model with acceptable statistical performance (R2 = 0.898, Q2loo = 0.859, etc.). QSAR analysis attributed the good correlation with different types of atoms like non-ring Carbons and Nitrogens, amide Nitrogen, sp2-hybridized Carbons, etc. Thus, the QSAR model has a good balance of qualitative and quantitative requirements (balanced QSAR model) and satisfies the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines. After that, a QSAR-based virtual screening of 26,467 food compounds and 360 heterocyclic variants of molecule 1 (benzotriazole–indole hybrid molecule) helped to identify promising hits. Furthermore, the molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Mpro with molecule 1 recognized the structural motifs with significant stability. Molecular docking and QSAR provided consensus and complementary results. The validated analyses are capable of optimizing a drug/lead candidate for better inhibitory activity against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2.

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