articleScienceMar 20, 2020HYBRID OA

Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease provides a basis for design of improved α-ketoamide inhibitors

German Center for Infection Research · University of Lübeck · +6 more institutions

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefdatacitepubmed

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global health emergency. An attractive drug target among coronaviruses is the main protease (M pro , also called 3CL pro ) because of its essential role in processing the polyproteins that are translated from the viral RNA. We report the x-ray structures of the unliganded SARS-CoV-2 M pro and its complex with an α-ketoamide inhibitor. This was derived from a previously designed inhibitor but with the P3-P2 amide bond incorporated into a pyridone ring to enhance the half-life of the compound in plasma. On the basis of the unliganded structure, we developed the lead compound into a potent…

Citation impact

3,417
total citations
FWCI
419.78
Percentile
100%
References
43
Citations per year

Authors

9

Topics & keywords

Keywords
  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
  • Protease
  • Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
  • Basis (linear algebra)
  • Chemistry
  • Computational biology
  • Virology
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Responsible consumption and production
No related works found for this paper.

Funding