RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on public health worldwide, and there is an urgent need for the creation of an armamentarium of effective therapeutics, including vaccines, biologics, and small-molecule therapeutics, to combat SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants. Inspection of the virus life cycle reveals multiple viral- and host-based choke points that can be exploited to combat the virus. SARS-CoV-2 3C-like protease (3CLpro), an enzyme essential for viral replication, is an attractive target for therapeutic intervention, and the design of inhibitors of the protease may lead to the emergence of effective SARS-CoV-2-specific antivirals. We describe herein the results of our studies related to the application of X-ray crystallography, the Thorpe-Ingold effect, deuteration, and stereochemistry in the design of highly potent and nontoxic inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro.
Assuntos
Antivirais/farmacologia , Proteases 3C de Coronavírus/antagonistas & inibidores , Inibidores de Cisteína Proteinase/farmacologia , SARS-CoV-2/efeitos dos fármacos , Animais , Antivirais/síntese química , Antivirais/metabolismo , Chlorocebus aethiops , Proteases 3C de Coronavírus/metabolismo , Cristalografia por Raios X , Inibidores de Cisteína Proteinase/síntese química , Inibidores de Cisteína Proteinase/metabolismo , Desenho de Fármacos , Células HEK293 , Humanos , Ligação de Hidrogênio , Testes de Sensibilidade Microbiana , Estrutura Molecular , Ligação Proteica , SARS-CoV-2/enzimologia , Estereoisomerismo , Células VeroRESUMO
Acute gastroenteritis caused by noroviruses has a major impact on public health worldwide in terms of morbidity, mortality, and economic burden. The disease impacts most severely immunocompromised patients, the elderly, and children. The current lack of approved vaccines and small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment and prophylaxis of norovirus infections underscores the need for the development of norovirus-specific drugs. The studies described herein entail the use of the gem-dimethyl moiety as a means of improving the pharmacological activity and physicochemical properties of a dipeptidyl series of transition state inhibitors of norovirus 3CL protease, an enzyme essential for viral replication. Several compounds were found to be potent inhibitors of the enzyme in biochemical and cell-based assays. The pharmacological activity and cellular permeability of the inhibitors were found to be sensitive to the location of the gem-dimethyl group.