In-cell bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based assay uncovers ceritinib and CA-074 as SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitors

Autor: Mei Li, Zhu-Chun Bei, Yongtian Yuan, Baogang Wang, Dongna Zhang, Likun Xu, Liangliang Zhao, Qin Xu, Yabin Song
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, Vol 39, Iss 1 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 14756366
1475-6374
1475-6366
DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2024.2387417
Popis: Papain-like protease (PLpro) is an attractive anti-coronavirus target. The development of PLpro inhibitors, however, is hampered by the limitations of the existing PLpro assay and the scarcity of validated active compounds. We developed a novel in-cell PLpro assay based on BRET and used it to evaluate and discover SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors. The developed assay demonstrated remarkable sensitivity for detecting the reduction of intracellular PLpro activity while presenting high reliability and performance for inhibitor evaluation and high-throughput screening. Using this assay, three protease inhibitors were identified as novel PLpro inhibitors that are structurally disparate from those previously known. Subsequent enzymatic assays and ligand-protein interaction analysis based on molecular docking revealed that ceritinib directly inhibited PLpro, showing high geometric complementarity with the substrate-binding pocket in PLpro, whereas CA-074 methyl ester underwent intracellular hydrolysis, exposing a free carboxyhydroxyl group essential for hydrogen bonding with G266 in the BL2 groove, resulting in PLpro inhibition.
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