Computational Design of Potent D-Peptide Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2.
J Med Chem
; 64(20): 14955-14967, 2021 10 28.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1461960
ABSTRACT
Blocking the association between the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an attractive therapeutic approach to prevent the virus from entering human cells. While antibodies and other modalities have been developed to this end, d-amino acid peptides offer unique advantages, including serum stability, low immunogenicity, and low cost of production. Here, we designed potent novel D-peptide inhibitors that mimic the ACE2 α1-binding helix by searching a mirror-image version of the PDB. The two best designs bound the RBD with affinities of 29 and 31 nM and blocked the infection of Vero cells by SARS-CoV-2 with IC50 values of 5.76 and 6.56 µM, respectively. Notably, both D-peptides neutralized with a similar potency the infection of two variants of concern B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 in vitro. These potent D-peptide inhibitors are promising lead candidates for developing SARS-CoV-2 prophylactic or therapeutic treatments.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Peptides
/
SARS-CoV-2
Topics:
Variants
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Chem
Journal subject:
Chemistry
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Acs.jmedchem.1c00655
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