1.Targeting papain-like protease for broad-spectrum coronavirus inhibition.
Shuofeng YUAN ; Xiaopan GAO ; Kaiming TANG ; Jian-Piao CAI ; Menglong HU ; Peng LUO ; Lei WEN ; Zi-Wei YE ; Cuiting LUO ; Jessica Oi-Ling TSANG ; Chris Chun-Yiu CHAN ; Yaoqiang HUANG ; Jianli CAO ; Ronghui LIANG ; Zhenzhi QIN ; Bo QIN ; Feifei YIN ; Hin CHU ; Dong-Yan JIN ; Ren SUN ; Jasper Fuk-Woo CHAN ; Sheng CUI ; Kwok-Yung YUEN
Protein & Cell 2022;13(12):940-953
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and repeated outbreaks of coronavirus epidemics in the past two decades emphasize the need for next-generation pan-coronaviral therapeutics. Drugging the multi-functional papain-like protease (PLpro) domain of the viral nsp3 holds promise. However, none of the known coronavirus PLpro inhibitors has been shown to be in vivo active. Herein, we screened a structurally diverse library of 50,080 compounds for potential coronavirus PLpro inhibitors and identified a noncovalent lead inhibitor F0213 that has broad-spectrum anti-coronaviral activity, including against the Sarbecoviruses (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2), Merbecovirus (MERS-CoV), as well as the Alphacoronavirus (hCoV-229E and hCoV-OC43). Importantly, F0213 confers protection in both SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters and MERS-CoV-infected human DPP4-knockin mice. F0213 possesses a dual therapeutic functionality that suppresses coronavirus replication via blocking viral polyprotein cleavage, as well as promoting antiviral immunity by antagonizing the PLpro deubiquitinase activity. Despite the significant difference of substrate recognition, mode of inhibition studies suggest that F0213 is a competitive inhibitor against SARS2-PLpro via binding with the 157K amino acid residue, whereas an allosteric inhibitor of MERS-PLpro interacting with its 271E position. Our proof-of-concept findings demonstrated that PLpro is a valid target for the development of broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus agents. The orally administered F0213 may serve as a promising lead compound for combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and future coronavirus outbreaks.
Animals
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Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/antagonists & inhibitors*
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Cricetinae
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Humans
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Mice
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Pandemics
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SARS-CoV-2/enzymology*
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COVID-19 Drug Treatment
2.High-throughput screening of SARS-CoV-2 main and papain-like protease inhibitors.
Yi ZANG ; Mingbo SU ; Qingxing WANG ; Xi CHENG ; Wenru ZHANG ; Yao ZHAO ; Tong CHEN ; Yingyan JIANG ; Qiang SHEN ; Juan DU ; Qiuxiang TAN ; Peipei WANG ; Lixin GAO ; Zhenming JIN ; Mengmeng ZHANG ; Cong LI ; Ya ZHU ; Bo FENG ; Bixi TANG ; Han XIE ; Ming-Wei WANG ; Mingyue ZHENG ; Xiaoyan PAN ; Haitao YANG ; Yechun XU ; Beili WU ; Leike ZHANG ; Zihe RAO ; Xiuna YANG ; Hualiang JIANG ; Gengfu XIAO ; Qiang ZHAO ; Jia LI
Protein & Cell 2023;14(1):17-27
The global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has infected over 109 million people, leading to over 2 million deaths up to date and still lacking of effective drugs for patient treatment. Here, we screened about 1.8 million small molecules against the main protease (Mpro) and papain like protease (PLpro), two major proteases in severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 genome, and identified 1851Mpro inhibitors and 205 PLpro inhibitors with low nmol/l activity of the best hits. Among these inhibitors, eight small molecules showed dual inhibition effects on both Mpro and PLpro, exhibiting potential as better candidates for COVID-19 treatment. The best inhibitors of each protease were tested in antiviral assay, with over 40% of Mpro inhibitors and over 20% of PLpro inhibitors showing high potency in viral inhibition with low cytotoxicity. The X-ray crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro in complex with its potent inhibitor 4a was determined at 1.8 Å resolution. Together with docking assays, our results provide a comprehensive resource for future research on anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug development.
Humans
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Antiviral Agents/chemistry*
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COVID-19
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COVID-19 Drug Treatment
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High-Throughput Screening Assays
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Molecular Docking Simulation
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Protease Inhibitors/chemistry*
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SARS-CoV-2/enzymology*
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Viral Nonstructural Proteins