Identification of a highly conserved neutralizing epitope within the RBD region of diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The constant emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants continues to impair the efficacy of existing neutralizing antibodies, especially XBB.1.5 and EG.5, which showed exceptional immune evasion properties. Here, we identify a highly conserved neutralizing epitope targeted by a broad-spectrum neutralizing antibody BA7535, which demonstrates high neutralization potency against not only previous variants, such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron BA.1-BA.5, but also more recently emerged Omicron subvariants, including BF.7, CH.1.1, XBB.1, XBB.1.5, XBB.1.9.1, EG.5. Structural analysis of the Omicron Spike trimer with BA7535-Fab using cryo-EM indicates that BA7535 recognizes a highly conserved cryptic receptor-binding domain (RBD) epitope, avoiding most of the mutational hot spots in RBD. Furthermore, structural simulation based on the interaction of BA7535-Fab/RBD complexes dissects the broadly neutralizing effect of BA7535 against latest variants. Therapeutic and prophylactic treatment with BA7535 alone or in combination with BA7208 protected female mice from the circulating Omicron BA.5 and XBB.1 variant infection, suggesting the highly conserved neutralizing epitope serves as a potential target for developing highly potent therapeutic antibodies and vaccines.

Accelerated Discovery of Macrocyclic CDK2 Inhibitor QR-6401 by Generative Models and Structure-Based Drug Design.

Selective CDK2 inhibitors have the potential to provide effective therapeutics for CDK2-dependent cancers and for combating drug resistance due to high cyclin E1 (CCNE1) expression intrinsically or CCNE1 amplification induced by treatment of CDK4/6 inhibitors. Generative models that take advantage of deep learning are being increasingly integrated into early drug discovery for hit identification and lead optimization. Here we report the discovery of a highly potent and selective macrocyclic CDK2 inhibitor QR-6401 (23) accelerated by the application of generative models and structure-based drug design (SBDD). QR-6401 (23) demonstrated robust antitumor efficacy in an OVCAR3 ovarian cancer xenograft model via oral administration.

Biparatopic antibody BA7208/7125 effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron BA.1-BA.5.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants have demonstrated extensive evasion from monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) developed for clinical use, which raises an urgent need to develop new broad-spectrum mAbs. Here, we report the isolation and analysis of two anti-RBD neutralizing antibodies BA7208 and BA7125 from mice engineered to produce human antibodies. While BA7125 showed broadly neutralizing activity against all variants except the Omicron sublineages, BA7208 was potently neutralizing against all tested SARS-CoV-2 variants (including Omicron BA.1-BA.5) except Mu. By combining BA7208 and BA7125 through the knobs-into-holes technology, we generated a biparatopic antibody BA7208/7125 that was able to neutralize all tested circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. Cryo-electron microscopy structure of these broad-spectrum antibodies in complex with trimeric Delta and Omicron spike indicated that the contact residues are highly conserved and had minimal interactions with mutational residues in RBD of current variants. In addition, we showed that administration of BA7208/7125 via the intraperitoneal, intranasal, or aerosol inhalation route showed potent therapeutic efficacy against Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 in hACE2-transgenic and wild-type mice and, separately, effective prophylaxis. BA7208/7125 thus has the potential to be an effective candidate as an intervention against COVID-19.

Supramolecular interaction of labetalol with cucurbit[7]uril for its sensitive fluorescence detection.

This work studied the host-guest interaction between cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) and labetalol in acidic aqueous solution and proposed a simple competitive method for fluorescence detection of labetalol. The binding constant of labetalol-CB[7] was (1.83 ± 0.22) × 10(6) M(-1), which was greater than those of palmatine-CB[7], berberine-CB[7], and coptisine-CB[7] complexes. The fluorescence intensity of palmatine-CB[7], berberine-CB[7], and coptisine-CB[7] complexes decreased linearly with increasing concentration of labetalol ranging from 0.014 to 2.06, 0.014 to 1.15, and 0.034 to 1.23 µM, respectively. Based on the competitive interaction, the proposed detection method for labetalol showed limits of detection of 4.9 nM, 4.9 nM, and 12.0 nM, respectively, and was successfully applied for the determination of labetalol in human urine samples with good precision and recoveries from 95.4% to 102.5%. Moreover, it could be employed to monitor the time-dependent concentration of labetalol in urine from a healthy volunteer after oral medication. The superstructure-based competitive mode provided a promising fluorescence assay strategy for various potential applications.

A competitive strategy based on cucurbit[7]uril supramolecular interaction for simple and sensitive detection of dibucaine.

In this work, the competitive interaction between dibucaine and three fluorescent probes (i.e., berberine, palmatine, and coptisine) for occupancy of the cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) cavity was studied by fluorescence spectra, UV-visible absorption spectra, (1)H NMR spectra, and theoretical calculations in acidic aqueous solution. Based on the fluorescence enhancement of berberine, palmatine, and coptisine upon binding with CB[7], respectively, a series of fluorescence detection methods for dibucaine were proposed. At the optimized conditions, the fluorescence intensity of berberine-CB[7], palmatine-CB[7], and coptisine-CB[7] complexes showed negative correlation to the concentration of dibucaine, which led to a series of simple and sensitive fluorescence methods for the determination of dibucaine for the first time. Linear ranges obtained in the detection of the dibucaine were 0.018-3.34 µmol L(-1), 0.032-4.47 µmol L(-1), and 0.079-4.42 µmol L(-1) with detection limits of 6.0 nmol L(-1), 12.0 nmol L(-1), and 25.0 nmol L(-1), respectively. Moreover, the proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of the drug in biological fluids. The competitive mode based on CB[7] superstructure provided a promising assay strategy for fluorescence detection in various potential applications.