Design of a SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitor with antiviral efficacy in a mouse model

作者：Bin Tan, Xiaoming Zhang, Ahmadullah Ansari, Prakash D. Jadhav, Haozhou Tan, Kan Li, Ashima Chopra, Alexandra Ford, Xiang Chi, Francesc X. Ruiz, Eddy Arnold, Xufang Deng, Jun Wang · 发表于：Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1126/science.adm9724 · 被引用次数：122 · 研究领域：SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research、Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology、Viral Infections and Immunology Research

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and drug-resistant mutants calls for additional oral antivirals. The SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PL pro ) is a promising but challenging drug target. We designed and synthesized 85 noncovalent PL pro inhibitors that bind to a recently discovered ubiquitin binding site and the known BL2 groove pocket near the S4 subsite. Leads inhibited PL pro with the inhibitory constant K i values from 13.2 to 88.2 nanomolar. The co-crystal structures of PL pro with eight leads revealed their interaction modes. The in vivo lead Jun12682 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, including nirmatrelvir-resistant strains with EC 50 from 0.44 to 2.02 micromolar. Oral treatment with Jun12682 improved survival and reduced lung viral loads and lesions in a SARS-CoV-2 infection mouse model, suggesting that PL pro inhibitors are promising oral SARS-CoV-2 antiviral candidates.