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Bisindolylmaleimide IX: a Novel Anti-SARS-CoV2 Agent Targeting Viral Main Protease 3CLpro Demonstrated by Virtual Screening Pipeline and In-Vitro Validation Assays
Methods
  • Yash Gupta, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic
  • Dawid Maciorowski
  • Samantha E. Zak, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
  • Krysten A. Jones, The University of Chicago
  • Rahul S. Kathayat, The University of Chicago
  • Saara-Anne Azizi, The University of Chicago
  • Raman Mathur, Loyola University Chicago
  • Catherine M. Pearce, Loyola University Chicago
  • David J. Ilc, Loyola University Chicago
  • Hamza Husein, Loyola University Chicago
  • Andrew S. Herbert, The Geneva Foundation
  • Ajay Bharti, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California
  • Brijesh Rathi, Laboratory for Translational Chemistry and Drug Discovery, Hansraj College, University of Delhi
  • Ravi Durvasula, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic
  • Daniel P. Becker, Loyola University Chicago
  • Bryan C. Dickinson, The University of Chicago
  • John M. Dye, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
  • Prakasha Kempaiah, Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2021
Pages
57-71
Publisher Name
Elsevier
Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 consists of several enzymes with essential functions within its proteome. Here, we focused on repurposing approved and investigational drugs/compounds. We targeted seven proteins with enzymatic activities known to be essential at different stages of the viral cycle including PLpro, 3CLpro, RdRP, Helicase, ExoN, NendoU, and 2′-O-MT. For virtual screening, energy minimization of a crystal structure of the modeled protein was carried out using the Protein Preparation Wizard (Schrodinger LLC 2020-1). Following active site selection based on data mining and COACH predictions, we performed a high-throughput virtual screen of drugs and investigational molecules (n = 5903). The screening was performed against viral targets using three sequential docking modes (i.e., HTVS, SP, and XP). Virtual screening identified ∼290 potential inhibitors based on the criteria of energy, docking parameters, ligand, and binding site strain and score. Drugs specific to each target protein were further analyzed for binding free energy perturbation by molecular mechanics (prime MM-GBSA) and pruning the hits to the top 32 candidates. The top lead from each target pool was further subjected to molecular dynamics simulation using the Desmond module. The resulting top eight hits were tested for their SARS-CoV-2 anti-viral activity in-vitro. Among these, a known inhibitor of protein kinase C isoforms, Bisindolylmaleimide IX (BIM IX), was found to be a potent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2. Further, target validation through enzymatic assays confirmed 3CLpro to be the target. This is the first study that has showcased BIM IX as a COVID-19 inhibitor thereby validating our pipeline.

Identifier
1046-2023
Comments

Author Posting © The Authors, 2021. This article was published Gold Open Access.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Citation Information
Yash Gupta, Dawid Maciorowski, Samantha E. Zak, Krysten A. Jones, et al.. "Bisindolylmaleimide IX: a Novel Anti-SARS-CoV2 Agent Targeting Viral Main Protease 3CLpro Demonstrated by Virtual Screening Pipeline and In-Vitro Validation Assays" Methods Vol. 195 (2021)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/daniel_p_becker/89/