The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 requires rapid development of specific therapeutics and vaccines. The main protease of SARS-CoV-2, 3CL M pro , is an established drug target for the design of inhibitors to stop the virus replication. Repurposing existing clinical drugs can offer a faster route to treatments ...
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 requires rapid development of specific therapeutics and vaccines. The main protease of SARS-CoV-2, 3CL M pro , is an established drug target for the design of inhibitors to stop the virus replication. Repurposing existing clinical drugs can offer a faster route to treatments. Here, we report on the binding mode and inhibition properties of several inhibitors using room temperature X-ray crystallography and in vitro enzyme kinetics. The enzyme active-site cavity reveals a high degree of malleability, allowing aldehyde leupeptin and hepatitis C clinical protease inhibitors (telaprevir, narlaprevir, and boceprevir) to bind and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 3CL M pro . Narlaprevir, boceprevir, and telaprevir are low-micromolar inhibitors, whereas the binding affinity of leupeptin is substantially weaker. Repurposing hepatitis C clinical drugs as COVID-19 treatments may be a useful option to pursue. The observed malleability of the enzyme active-site cavity should be considered for the successful design of specific protease inhibitors.
Organizational Affiliation:
Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA; National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Washington, DC, USA. Electronic address: kovalevskyay@ornl.gov.
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