Acta Pharmaceutica, Vol. 71 No. 3, 2021.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.2478/acph-2021-0040
Computer-aided approaches reveal trihydroxychroman and pyrazolone derivatives as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 virus main protease
NOOR ATATREH
orcid.org/0000-0002-2788-0875
; College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, P.O. Box 112612
SHAIMA HASAN
orcid.org/0000-0002-9984-243X
; College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, P.O. Box 112612
BASSAM R. ALI
orcid.org/0000-0003-1306-6618
; Department of Pathology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE
MOHAMMAD A. GHATTAS
orcid.org/0000-0002-2240-8037
; College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, P.O. Box 112612
Abstract
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. The disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The aim of this study is to target the SARS-CoV-2 virus main protease (Mpro) via structure-based virtual screening. Consequently, > 580,000 ligands were processed via several filtration and docking steps, then the top 21 compounds were analysed extensively via MM-GBSA scoring and molecular dynamic simulations. Interestingly, the top compounds showed favorable binding energies and binding patterns to the protease enzyme, forming interactions with several key residues. Trihydroxychroman and pyrazolone derivatives, SN02 and SN18 ligands, exhibited very promising binding modes along with the best MM-GBSA scoring of –40.9 and –41.2 kcal mol–1, resp. Hence, MD simulations for the ligand-protein complexes of SN02 and SN18 affirmed the previously attained results of the potential inhibition activity of these two ligands. These potential inhibitors can be the starting point for further studies to pave way for the discovery of new antiviral drugs for SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords
COVID-19; Mpro; SARS-COV-2; antiviral; virtual screening; docking
Hrčak ID:
246136
URI
Publication date:
30.9.2021.
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