Primary Citation of Related Structures: 7Q5E, 7Q5F
PubMed Abstract:
SARS-CoV-2 caused worldwide the current outbreak called COVID-19. Despite multiple countermeasures implemented, there is an urgent global need for new potent and efficient antiviral drugs against this pathogen. In this context, the main protease (M pro ) of SARS-CoV-2 is an essential viral enzyme and plays a pivotal role in viral replication and transcription ...
SARS-CoV-2 caused worldwide the current outbreak called COVID-19. Despite multiple countermeasures implemented, there is an urgent global need for new potent and efficient antiviral drugs against this pathogen. In this context, the main protease (M pro ) of SARS-CoV-2 is an essential viral enzyme and plays a pivotal role in viral replication and transcription. Its specific cleavage of polypeptides after a glutamine residue has been considered as a key element to design novel antiviral drugs. Herein, we reported the design, synthesis and structure-activity relationships of novel α-ketoamides as covalent reversible inhibitors of M pro , exploiting the PADAM oxidation route. The reported compounds showed μM to nM activities in enzymatic and in the antiviral cell-based assays against SARS-CoV-2 M pro . In order to assess inhibitors' binding mode, two co-crystal structures of SARS-CoV-2 M pro in complex with our inhibitors were solved, which confirmed the covalent binding of the keto amide moiety to the catalytic Cys145 residue of M pro . Finally, in order to interrogate potential broad-spectrum properties, we assessed a selection of compounds against MERS M pro where they showed nM inhibitory potency, thus highlighting their potential as broad-spectrum coronavirus inhibitors.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, via D. Montesano 49, 80131, Naples, Italy. Electronic address: vincenzo.summa@unina.it.
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