ABSTRACT
The main protease (Mpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a key enzyme, which extensively digests CoV replicase polyproteins essential for viral replication and transcription, making it an attractive target for antiviral drug development. However, the molecular mechanism of how Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 digests replicase polyproteins, releasing the nonstructural proteins (nsps), and its substrate specificity remain largely unknown. Here, we determine the high-resolution structures of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro in its resting state, precleavage state, and postcleavage state, constituting a full cycle of substrate cleavage. The structures show the delicate conformational changes that occur during polyprotein processing. Further, we solve the structures of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro mutant (H41A) in complex with six native cleavage substrates from replicase polyproteins, and demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 Mpro can recognize sequences as long as 10 residues but only have special selectivity for four subsites. These structural data provide a basis to develop potent new inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus 3C Proteases , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase , SARS-CoV-2 , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Coronavirus 3C Proteases/chemistry , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/chemistry , Coronavirus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase/genetics , Polyproteins/chemistry , Protein Conformation , Proteolysis , SARS-CoV-2/enzymology , Substrate Specificity/geneticsSubject(s)
COVID-19 , Protease Inhibitors , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Coronavirus 3C Proteases , Humans , Lactams , Leucine , Molecular Docking Simulation , Molecular Dynamics Simulation , Nitriles , Proline , Protease Inhibitors/chemistry , Protease Inhibitors/pharmacology , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified as the etiologic agent for the COVID-19 outbreak. Currently, effective treatment options remain very limited for this disease; therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new anti-COVID-19 agents. In this study, we screened over 6,000 compounds that included approved drugs, drug candidates in clinical trials, and pharmacologically active compounds to identify leads that target the SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro). Together with main protease (Mpro), PLpro is responsible for processing the viral replicase polyprotein into functional units. Therefore, it is an attractive target for antiviral drug development. Here we discovered four compounds, YM155, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone I and GRL0617 that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 PLpro with IC50 values ranging from 1.39 to 5.63 µmol/L. These compounds also exhibit strong antiviral activities in cell-based assays. YM155, an anticancer drug candidate in clinical trials, has the most potent antiviral activity with an EC50 value of 170 nmol/L. In addition, we have determined the crystal structures of this enzyme and its complex with YM155, revealing a unique binding mode. YM155 simultaneously targets three "hot" spots on PLpro, including the substrate-binding pocket, the interferon stimulating gene product 15 (ISG15) binding site and zinc finger motif. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of this screening and repurposing strategy, which has led to the discovery of new drug leads with clinical potential for COVID-19 treatments.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/chemistry , High-Throughput Screening Assays/methods , Protease Inhibitors/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/metabolism , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Binding Sites , COVID-19/virology , Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/genetics , Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/metabolism , Crystallography, X-Ray , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Drug Repositioning , Humans , Imidazoles/chemistry , Imidazoles/metabolism , Imidazoles/therapeutic use , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , Molecular Dynamics Simulation , Mutagenesis, Site-Directed , Naphthoquinones/chemistry , Naphthoquinones/metabolism , Naphthoquinones/therapeutic use , Protease Inhibitors/metabolism , Protease Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Protein Structure, Tertiary , Recombinant Proteins/biosynthesis , Recombinant Proteins/chemistry , Recombinant Proteins/isolation & purification , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , COVID-19 Drug TreatmentABSTRACT
The sudden outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV, later named SARS-CoV-2) rapidly turned into an unprecedented pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This global healthcare emergency marked the third occurrence of a deadly coronavirus (CoV) into the human society after entering the new millennium, which overwhelmed the worldwide healthcare system and affected the global economy. However, therapeutic options for COVID-19 are still very limited. Developing drugs targeting vital proteins in viral life cycle is a feasible approach to overcome this dilemma. Main protease (Mpro) plays a dominant role in processing CoV-encoded polyproteins which mediate the assembly of replication-transcription machinery and is thus recognized as an ideal antiviral target. Here we summarize the recent progress in the discovery of anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents against Mpro. Combining structural study, virtual screen, and experimental screen, numerous therapeutic candidates including repurposed drugs and ab initio designed compounds have been proposed. Such collaborative effort from the scientific community would accelerate the pace of developing efficacious treatment for COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
A new coronavirus, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the aetiological agent responsible for the 2019-2020 viral pneumonia outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)1-4. Currently, there are no targeted therapeutic agents for the treatment of this disease, and effective treatment options remain very limited. Here we describe the results of a programme that aimed to rapidly discover lead compounds for clinical use, by combining structure-assisted drug design, virtual drug screening and high-throughput screening. This programme focused on identifying drug leads that target main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2: Mpro is a key enzyme of coronaviruses and has a pivotal role in mediating viral replication and transcription, making it an attractive drug target for SARS-CoV-25,6. We identified a mechanism-based inhibitor (N3) by computer-aided drug design, and then determined the crystal structure of Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 in complex with this compound. Through a combination of structure-based virtual and high-throughput screening, we assayed more than 10,000 compounds-including approved drugs, drug candidates in clinical trials and other pharmacologically active compounds-as inhibitors of Mpro. Six of these compounds inhibited Mpro, showing half-maximal inhibitory concentration values that ranged from 0.67 to 21.4 µM. One of these compounds (ebselen) also exhibited promising antiviral activity in cell-based assays. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of our screening strategy, which can lead to the rapid discovery of drug leads with clinical potential in response to new infectious diseases for which no specific drugs or vaccines are available.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus/chemistry , Cysteine Endopeptidases/chemistry , Drug Discovery/methods , Models, Molecular , Protease Inhibitors/chemistry , Viral Nonstructural Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Viral Nonstructural Proteins/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Betacoronavirus/drug effects , COVID-19 , Cells, Cultured/virology , Coronavirus 3C Proteases , Coronavirus Infections/enzymology , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Drug Design , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Humans , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/enzymology , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Protease Inhibitors/pharmacology , Protein Structure, Tertiary , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
The antineoplastic drug carmofur is shown to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). Here, the X-ray crystal structure of Mpro in complex with carmofur reveals that the carbonyl reactive group of carmofur is covalently bound to catalytic Cys145, whereas its fatty acid tail occupies the hydrophobic S2 subsite. Carmofur inhibits viral replication in cells (EC50 = 24.30 µM) and is a promising lead compound to develop new antiviral treatment for COVID-19.