Small-Molecule In Vitro Inhibitors of the Coronavirus Spike – ACE2 Protein-Protein Interaction as Blockers of Viral Attachment and Entry for SARS-CoV-2
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Abstract
Inhibitors of the protein-protein interaction (PPI) between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and ACE2, which acts as a ligand-receptor pair that initiates the viral attachment and cellular entry of this coronavirus causing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, are of considerable interest as potential antiviral agents. While blockade of such PPIs with small molecules is more challenging than with antibodies, small-molecule inhibitors (SMIs) might offer alternatives that are less strain- and mutation-sensitive, suitable for oral or inhaled administration, and more controllable / less immunogenic. Here, we report the identification of SMIs of this PPI by screening our compound-library that is focused on the chemical space of organic dyes. Among promising candidates identified, several dyes (Congo red, direct violet 1, Evans blue) and novel drug-like compounds (DRI-C23041, DRI-C91005) inhibited the interaction of hACE2 with the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 as well as SARS-CoV with low micromolar activity in our cell-free ELISA-type assays (IC 50 s of 0.2-3.0 μM); whereas, control compounds, such as sunset yellow FCF, chloroquine, and suramin, showed no activity. Protein thermal shift assays indicated that the SMIs identified here bind SARS-CoV-2-S and not ACE2. Selected promising compounds inhibited the entry of a SARS-CoV-2-S expressing pseudovirus into ACE2-expressing cells in concentration-dependent manner with low micromolar IC 50 s (6-30 μM). This provides proof-of-principle evidence for the feasibility of small-molecule inhibition of PPIs critical for coronavirus attachment/entry and serves as a first guide in the search for SMI-based alternative antiviral therapies for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused by coronaviruses in general and COVID-19 in particular.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.22.351056: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Cell Line Authentication not detected. Table 2: Resources
Experimental Models: Cell Lines Sentences Resources Briefly, HEK293T cells (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA; cat. no. CRL-1573) were seeded onto 96-well plates at a density of 50,000 cells per well in 100 μL complete medium (DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum). HEK293Tsuggested: NoneSoftware and Algorithms Sentences Resources SYPRO Orange (ThermoFisher; ThermoFishersuggested: (ThermoFisher; SL 8; Centrifuge, RRID:SCR_020809)Cell fluorescence was detected using an EVOS FL microscope (Life … SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.22.351056: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement not detected. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Cell Line Authentication not detected. Table 2: Resources
Experimental Models: Cell Lines Sentences Resources Briefly, HEK293T cells (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA; cat. no. CRL-1573) were seeded onto 96-well plates at a density of 50,000 cells per well in 100 μL complete medium (DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum). HEK293Tsuggested: NoneSoftware and Algorithms Sentences Resources SYPRO Orange (ThermoFisher; ThermoFishersuggested: (ThermoFisher; SL 8; Centrifuge, RRID:SCR_020809)Cell fluorescence was detected using an EVOS FL microscope (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) and quantified using the Analyze Particles tool after thresholding for the corresponding colors in ImageJ (US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; (109)) ImageJsuggested: (ImageJ, RRID:SCR_003070)As before (56–58), binding data were converted to percent inhibition and fitted with standard log inhibitor vs. normalized response models (63) using nonlinear regression in GraphPad Prism (GraphPad, La Jolla, CA, USA) to establish half-maximal effective or inhibitory concentrations (EC50, IC50). GraphPad Prismsuggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)GraphPadsuggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
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