Potent and Selective Covalent Inhibition of the Papain-like Protease from SARS-CoV-2

Autor: Brian C. Sanders, Suman Pokhrel, Audrey D. Labbe, Irimpan I. Mathews, Connor J. Cooper, Russell B. Davidson, Gwyndalyn Phillips, Kevin L. Weiss, Qiu Zhang, Hugh O’Neill, Manat Kaur, Jurgen G. Schmidt, Walter Reichard, Surekha Surendranathan, Jyothi Parvathareddy, Lexi Phillips, Christopher Rainville, David E. Sterner, Desigan Kumaran, Babak Andi, Gyorgy Babnigg, Nigel W. Moriarty, Paul D. Adams, Andrzej Joachimiak, Brett L. Hurst, Suresh Kumar, Tauseef R. Butt, Colleen B. Jonsson, Lori Ferrins, Soichi Wakatsuki, Stephanie Galanie, Martha S. Head, Jerry M. Parks
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature communications, vol 14, iss 1
Popis: Direct-acting antivirals are needed to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The papain-like protease (PLpro) domain of Nsp3 from SARS-CoV-2 is essential for viral replication. In addition, PLpro dysregulates the host immune response by cleaving ubiquitin and interferon-stimulated gene 15 protein (ISG15) from host proteins. As a result, PLpro is a promising target for inhibition by small-molecule therapeutics. Here we have designed a series of covalent inhibitors by introducing a peptidomimetic linker and reactive electrophile onto analogs of the noncovalent PLpro inhibitor GRL0617. The most potent compound inhibited PLpro with kinact/KI = 10,000 M− 1 s− 1, achieved sub-µM EC50 values against three SARS-CoV-2 variants in mammalian cell lines, and did not inhibit a panel of human deubiquitinases at > 30 µM concentrations of inhibitor. An X-ray co-crystal structure of the compound bound to PLpro validated our design strategy and established the molecular basis for covalent inhibition and selectivity against structurally similar human DUBs. These findings present an opportunity for further development of covalent PLpro inhibitors.
Databáze: OpenAIRE