Rhenium(V) Complexes as Cysteine-Targeting Coordinate Covalent Warheads.

Interest in covalent enzyme inhibitors as therapeutic agents has seen a recent resurgence. Covalent enzyme inhibitors typically possess an organic functional group that reacts with a key feature of the target enzyme, often a nucleophilic cysteine residue. Herein, the application of small, modular ReV complexes as inorganic cysteine-targeting warheads is described. These metal complexes were found to react with cysteine residues rapidly and selectively. To demonstrate the utility of these ReV complexes, their reactivity with SARS-CoV-2-associated cysteine proteases is presented, including the SARS-CoV-2 main protease and papain-like protease and human enzymes cathepsin B and L. As all of these proteins are cysteine proteases, these enzymes were found to be inhibited by the ReV complexes through the formation of adducts. These findings suggest that these ReV complexes could be used as a new class of warheads for targeting surface accessible cysteine residues in disease-relevant target proteins.

ReI Tricarbonyl Complexes as Coordinate Covalent Inhibitors for the SARS-CoV-2 Main Cysteine Protease.

Since its outbreak, the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has impacted the quality of life and cost hundreds-of-thousands of lives worldwide. Based on its global spread and mortality, there is an urgent need for novel treatments which can combat this disease. To date, the 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro ), which is also known as the main protease, is considered among the most important pharmacological targets. The vast majority of investigated 3CLpro inhibitors are organic, non-covalent binders. Herein, the use of inorganic, coordinate covalent binders is proposed that can attenuate the activity of the protease. ReI tricarbonyl complexes were identified that demonstrate coordinate covalent enzymatic inhibition of 3CLpro . Preliminary studies indicate the selective inhibition of 3CLpro over several human proteases. This study presents the first example of metal complexes as inhibitors for the 3CLpro cysteine protease.