COVID-19

GRC Poster: Identification of SARS-CoV-2 helicase inhibitors by large-scale virtual screening

Posted onAuthorAnwar HossainLeave a comment

by Mohammad Anwar Hossain1, Konstantin Popov2, Sumera Perveen3, Kesatebrhan Haile Asressu1, Kenneth Hugh Pearce Jr.2, Cheryl Arrowsmith3, Peter Brown1, Alexander Tropsha4, Tim Willson1 1Structural Genomics Consortium, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; 2CICBDD, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy; 3The Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Canada; 4CBMC, UNC Eshelman Read More …

A systematic review of drug-like ligands bound to helicases in the PDB

Posted onAuthorLakshi Selvaratnam2 Comments

Introduction A current focus in the field of antiviral drug discovery are helicases, which are motor enzymes responsible for ATP-dependent nucleic acid duplex unwinding. Helicases of all superfamilies (SF) have stretches of amino acids called motifs, that are conserved within an SF and similar across SFs. For this reason, established helicase inhibitors interacting with these Read More …

Exploring the Potential of Human Helicase Ligands as Inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 Pt. 2

Posted onAuthorLakshi SelvaratnamLeave a comment

My goal is to look for strategies and chemical starting points to inhibit viral helicases, with a primary focus on the SARS-CoV-2 helicase NSP13. In a previous post, I showed that a binding pocket in the human helicase SNRNP200 exploited by an allosteric inhibitor (PDB code 5URK) was absent in SARS-CoV-2. Here, I analyze another Read More …

Exploring the Potential of Human Helicase Ligands as Inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 NSP13

Posted onAuthorLakshi SelvaratnamLeave a comment

To develop novel inhibitors for viruses with pandemic potential, we have turned our attention towards targeting their helicases due to their high sequence conservation and essential role in viral replication (Newman et al., Nature communications, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 is especially interesting as its helicase, NSP13, was determined to have druggable binding pockets, some of which are Read More …

Multiple Sequence Alignment and Phylogenetic Tree of Human and Viral Helicases

Posted onAuthorLakshi Selvaratnam5 Comments

This is a summary of a detailed analysis that is available here. Helicases are motor proteins that separate double helices through the hydrolysis of ATP analogues (Fairman-Williams et al., Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 2010). They constitute one of the largest enzyme groups, as multiple varieties of helicases are present in all forms of cellular Read More …

Identification of N-oxide containing helicase inhibitors by large-scale virtual screening

Posted onAuthorAnwar Hossain2 Comments

SARS-CoV-2 Helicase (NSP13) as a drug target: The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is not over yet but instead has transformed into a chronic illness. So far, the expedited effort on drug development produced Mpro targeting drugs (Paxlovid) and repurposed RdRp inhibitor Molnupiravir. For effective long-term treatment, we intend to discover complementary antivirals targeting replication machinery Read More …

Helicase inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 NSP13

Posted onAuthorAnwar HossainLeave a comment

In searching for novel drugs that will treat future viral pandemics, the AViDD program has prioritized viral proteases, helicases, and RNA-dependant RNA polymerases (RdRps) as key targets in the fight to control viral replication. At the time of writing, several drugs are either in the clinic or on the market for SARS-CoV-2 proteases and RdRps, Read More …

Thiazole-based helicase inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2

Posted onAuthorAnwar Hossain4 Comments

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID-19 demonstrated the scarcity of drugs in the development pipeline to decrease the mortality and morbidity caused by the new pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 virus. Despite the improved diagnosis and screening processes, broad directly-acting anticoronavirus drugs were not immediately available to treat viral infections. In response to this health threat, the Rapidly Emerging Read More …

Druggability and Amino Acid Variability of the Catalytic Site of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp15 Across Coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 Samples – Post 26

Posted onAuthorSetayesh Yazdani3 Comments

Today’s post focuses on another protein encoded by many coronaviruses, the non-structural protein 15 (nsp15), an endoribonuclease. Nsp15 is a nidoviral RNA uridylate-specific endoribonuclease (NendoU) with C-terminal catalytic activity. This protein belongs to the EndoU family, and they all carry an RNA endonuclease activity to produce 2’-3’ cyclic phosphodiester and 5’-hydroxyl termini. (Kim et al. Read More …

Druggability and Genetic Variability at nsp9 Peptide-bound Pockets and Beta-barrel Pockets Across Coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 Samples – Post 25

Posted onAuthorSetayesh YazdaniLeave a comment

Today’s post focuses on another protein encoded in open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) of many coronaviruses, the non-structural protein 9 (nsp9). Nsp9 is thought to mediate viral replication. In SARS-CoV-1, nsp9’s role has been highlighted as a single-stranded RNA-binding subunit. (Egloff et al., 2004) The structure of SARS-CoV-2 nsp9 was solved in both apo and Read More …