Distinct Mechanisms for Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: Dimerization Promoted by Peptidomimetic Inhibitors and Disrupted by Ebselen
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eLife Assessment
This important study provides a comprehensive comparison of the mechanisms through which different inhibitors affect the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, a pivotal antiviral drug target, and suggests a potentially broad-spectrum strategy to inhibit this critical viral enzyme by disrupting its dimerization states. However, whereas the biophysical analyses of the dimer stability are convincing, evidence supporting this new mode of mechanism to inhibit the main protease is incomplete and would benefit from a correlation of the biophysical observations with functional activity. With the functional validation part strengthened, this work would be of interest to biochemists and virologists working on anti-coronavirus drug discovery.
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Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is a key target for antiviral drugs. Given its conserved sequence across coronaviruses and its essential role in viral replication, numerous inhibitors have been developed to target its active site. Mpro exists in equilibrium between the active dimer and inactive monomer, rendering the targeting of dimerization as a promising alternative strategy for drug development. This study addresses knowledge gaps regarding the monomer-dimer equilibrium and conformational changes of Mpro induced by inhibitor binding. We utilized 13C labeling combined with native mass spectrometry to assess how different types of inhibitors (including peptidomimetic inhibitors PF-07321332, PF-00835231, GC376, boceprevir; non-peptidomimetic inhibitors carmofur, ebselen and its analog MR6-31-2; and allosteric inhibitors AT7519 and pelitinib) influence the monomer-dimer equilibrium and subunit exchange of Mpro. Additionally, we employed hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to investigate the conformational dynamics of Mpro and its interactions with these inhibitors. Key findings revealed divergent mechanisms: peptidomimetic inhibitors significantly shifted the equilibrium towards the dimeric state, suppressing subunit exchange dynamics and rigidifying the dimer interface. In contrast, ebselen impaired the dimer form and increased the flexibility of the dimer interface. Notably, we identified a novel covalent binding site for ebselen at C300 by tandem mass spectrometry, with molecular dynamics simulations further indicating that this modification allosterically altered the hydrogen bond network of the Mpro dimer interface. Overall, this study reveals distinct inhibitory modes between peptidomimetic inhibitors and ebselen, highlighting the potential of targeting allosteric sites at the dimer interface for the design of next-generation Mpro inhibitors.
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eLife Assessment
This important study provides a comprehensive comparison of the mechanisms through which different inhibitors affect the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, a pivotal antiviral drug target, and suggests a potentially broad-spectrum strategy to inhibit this critical viral enzyme by disrupting its dimerization states. However, whereas the biophysical analyses of the dimer stability are convincing, evidence supporting this new mode of mechanism to inhibit the main protease is incomplete and would benefit from a correlation of the biophysical observations with functional activity. With the functional validation part strengthened, this work would be of interest to biochemists and virologists working on anti-coronavirus drug discovery.
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Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Since dimerization is essential for SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzymatic activity, the authors investigated how different classes of inhibitors, including peptidomimetic inhibitors (PF-07321332, PF-00835231, GC376, boceprevir), non-peptidomimetic inhibitors (carmofur, ebselen, and its analog MR6-31-2), and allosteric inhibitors (AT7519 and pelitinib), influence the Mpro monomer-dimer equilibrium using native mass spectrometry. Further analyses with isotope labeling, HDX-MS, and MD simulations examined subunit exchange and conformational dynamics. Distinct inhibitory mechanisms were identified: peptidomimetic inhibitors stabilized dimerization and suppressed subunit exchange and structural flexibility, whereas ebselen covalently bound to a newly identified site at C300, disrupting dimerization and increasing …
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Since dimerization is essential for SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzymatic activity, the authors investigated how different classes of inhibitors, including peptidomimetic inhibitors (PF-07321332, PF-00835231, GC376, boceprevir), non-peptidomimetic inhibitors (carmofur, ebselen, and its analog MR6-31-2), and allosteric inhibitors (AT7519 and pelitinib), influence the Mpro monomer-dimer equilibrium using native mass spectrometry. Further analyses with isotope labeling, HDX-MS, and MD simulations examined subunit exchange and conformational dynamics. Distinct inhibitory mechanisms were identified: peptidomimetic inhibitors stabilized dimerization and suppressed subunit exchange and structural flexibility, whereas ebselen covalently bound to a newly identified site at C300, disrupting dimerization and increasing conformational dynamics. This study provides detailed mechanistic evidence of how Mpro inhibitors modulate dimerization and structural dynamics. The newly identified covalently binding site C300 represents novelty as a druggable allosteric hotspot.
Strengths:
This manuscript investigates how different classes of inhibitors modulate SARS-CoV-2 main protease dimerization and structural dynamics, and identifies a newly observed covalent binding site for ebselen.
Weaknesses:
The major concern is the absence of mutagenesis data to support the proposed inhibitory mechanisms, particularly regarding the role of the inhibitor binding site.
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Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
This is a mechanistic study that provides new insights into the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.
Strengths:
The identification of dimer interface stabilization/destabilization as distinct inhibitory mechanisms and the discovery of C300 as a potential allosteric site for ebselen are important contributions to the field. The experimental approach is modern, multi-faceted, and generally well-executed.
Weaknesses:
The primary weaknesses relate to linking the biophysical observations more directly to functional enzymatic outcomes and providing more quantitative rigor in some analyses. While the study is overall strong, addressing its weaknesses and limitations would elevate the impact and translational relevance of the current manuscript.
(1) Correlation with Functional Activity:
The most significant gap …
Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
This is a mechanistic study that provides new insights into the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.
Strengths:
The identification of dimer interface stabilization/destabilization as distinct inhibitory mechanisms and the discovery of C300 as a potential allosteric site for ebselen are important contributions to the field. The experimental approach is modern, multi-faceted, and generally well-executed.
Weaknesses:
The primary weaknesses relate to linking the biophysical observations more directly to functional enzymatic outcomes and providing more quantitative rigor in some analyses. While the study is overall strong, addressing its weaknesses and limitations would elevate the impact and translational relevance of the current manuscript.
(1) Correlation with Functional Activity:
The most significant gap is the lack of direct enzymatic activity assays under the exact conditions used for MS and HDX. While EC50 values are listed from literature, demonstrating how the observed dimer stabilization (by peptidomimetics) or dimer disruption (by ebselen) directly correlates with inhibition of proteolytic activity in the same experimental setup would solidify the functional relevance of the biophysical observations. For instance, does the fraction of monomer measured by native MS quantitatively predict the loss of activity? Also, the single inhibitor concentration used in each MS experiment needs to be specified in the main text and legends. A discussion on whether the inhibitor concentrations required to observe these dimerization effects (in native MS) or structural dynamics (in HDX-MS) align with EC50 values would be helpful for contextualizing the findings.
(2) For the two Cys residues found to be targeted by ebselen, what are their respective modification stoichiometry related to the ebselen concentration? Especially for the covalent binding site C300, which is proposed in this study to represent a novel allosteric inhibition mechanism of ebselen, more direct experimental evidence is needed to support this major hypothesis. Does mutation or modification of C300 affect the Mpro dimerization/monomer equilibrium and alter the enzymatic activity? If ebselen acts as a covalent inhibitor linked to multiple Cys, why is its activity only in the uM range?
(3) For the allosteric inhibitor pelitinib with low-uM activity, no significant differences in deuterium uptake of Mpro were observed. In terms of the binding affinity, what is the difference between pelitinib and ebselen? Some explanations could be provided about the different HDX-MS results between the two non-peptidomimetic inhibitors with similar activities.
(4) Native MS Quantification:
The analysis of monomer-dimer ratios from native MS spectra appears qualitative or semi-quantitative. A more rigorous and quantified analysis of the percentage of dimer/monomer species under each condition, with statistical replicates, would strengthen the equilibrium shift claims. For native MS analysis of each inhibitor, the representative spectrum can be shown in the main figure together with quantified dimer/monomer fractions from replicates to show significance by statistical tests.
(5) Changes of HDX rates in certain regions seem very subtle. For example, as it states 'residues 296-304 in the C-terminal region of M pro were more flexible upon ebselen binding (Figure 4c)', the difference is barely observable. The percentage of HDX rate changes between two conditions (with p values) can be specified in the text for each fragment discussed, and any change below 5% or 10% is negligible.
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Author response:
Public Reviews:
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Since dimerization is essential for SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzymatic activity, the authors investigated how different classes of inhibitors, including peptidomimetic inhibitors (PF-07321332, PF-00835231, GC376, boceprevir), non-peptidomimetic inhibitors (carmofur, ebselen, and its analog MR6-31-2), and allosteric inhibitors (AT7519 and pelitinib), influence the Mpro monomer-dimer equilibrium using native mass spectrometry. Further analyses with isotope labeling, HDX-MS, and MD simulations examined subunit exchange and conformational dynamics. Distinct inhibitory mechanisms were identified: peptidomimetic inhibitors stabilized dimerization and suppressed subunit exchange and structural flexibility, whereas ebselen covalently bound to a newly identified site at C300, …
Author response:
Public Reviews:
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary:
Since dimerization is essential for SARS-CoV-2 Mpro enzymatic activity, the authors investigated how different classes of inhibitors, including peptidomimetic inhibitors (PF-07321332, PF-00835231, GC376, boceprevir), non-peptidomimetic inhibitors (carmofur, ebselen, and its analog MR6-31-2), and allosteric inhibitors (AT7519 and pelitinib), influence the Mpro monomer-dimer equilibrium using native mass spectrometry. Further analyses with isotope labeling, HDX-MS, and MD simulations examined subunit exchange and conformational dynamics. Distinct inhibitory mechanisms were identified: peptidomimetic inhibitors stabilized dimerization and suppressed subunit exchange and structural flexibility, whereas ebselen covalently bound to a newly identified site at C300, disrupting dimerization and increasing conformational dynamics. This study provides detailed mechanistic evidence of how Mpro inhibitors modulate dimerization and structural dynamics. The newly identified covalently binding site C300 represents novelty as a druggable allosteric hotspot.
Strengths:
This manuscript investigates how different classes of inhibitors modulate SARS-CoV-2 main protease dimerization and structural dynamics, and identifies a newly observed covalent binding site for ebselen.
Weaknesses:
The major concern is the absence of mutagenesis data to support the proposed inhibitory mechanisms, particularly regarding the role of the inhibitor binding site.
We thank the reviewer for the comments and recognition of our study. We agree that mutagenesis experiments are very helpful to validate the proposed mechanisms. We will perform site-directed mutagenesis of the key residue C300 and assess the effects of those C300 mutants on dimerization and enzymatic activity of Mpro, and integrate the results and discussion into the revised manuscript.
Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
This is a mechanistic study that provides new insights into the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.
Strengths:
The identification of dimer interface stabilization/destabilization as distinct inhibitory mechanisms and the discovery of C300 as a potential allosteric site for ebselen are important contributions to the field. The experimental approach is modern, multi-faceted, and generally well-executed.
We thank the reviewer for the positive comments and recognition of our study.
Weaknesses:
The primary weaknesses relate to linking the biophysical observations more directly to functional enzymatic outcomes and providing more quantitative rigor in some analyses. While the study is overall strong, addressing its weaknesses and limitations would elevate the impact and translational relevance of the current manuscript.
We thank the reviewer for the comments that are very helpful for improving the quality and impact of our manuscript.
(1) Correlation with Functional Activity:
The most significant gap is the lack of direct enzymatic activity assays under the exact conditions used for MS and HDX. While EC50 values are listed from literature, demonstrating how the observed dimer stabilization (by peptidomimetics) or dimer disruption (by ebselen) directly correlates with inhibition of proteolytic activity in the same experimental setup would solidify the functional relevance of the biophysical observations. For instance, does the fraction of monomer measured by native MS quantitatively predict the loss of activity? Also, the single inhibitor concentration used in each MS experiment needs to be specified in the main text and legends. A discussion on whether the inhibitor concentrations required to observe these dimerization effects (in native MS) or structural dynamics (in HDX-MS) align with EC50 values would be helpful for contextualizing the findings.
We thank the reviewer for the points and agree that directly linking our biophysical observations to functional outcomes under identical conditions would be more meaningful. We will perform enzymatic activity assays to investigate whether the fraction of monomer measured by native MS can predict the loss of activity. The inhibitor concentrations used in each MS experiment will be explicitly stated in the main text and figure legends, and we will also discuss how these concentrations relate to the EC50/IC50 values, providing content for the biophysical observations.
(2) For the two Cys residues found to be targeted by ebselen, what are their respective modification stoichiometry related to the ebselen concentration? Especially for the covalent binding site C300, which is proposed in this study to represent a novel allosteric inhibition mechanism of ebselen, more direct experimental evidence is needed to support this major hypothesis. Does mutation or modification of C300 affect the Mpro dimerization/monomer equilibrium and alter the enzymatic activity? If ebselen acts as a covalent inhibitor linked to multiple Cys, why is its activity only in the uM range?
We thank the reviewer for the insightful comments. To address the stoichiometry of ebselen modification, we will further analyze data and discuss accordingly. To display more direct evidence of C300 as a novel allosteric inhibition site of ebselen, we will perform site-directed mutagenesis and investigate whether these C300 mutants affect the Mpro dimerization and enzymatic activity. Regarding the modification of C300, several independent studies have been cited in this manuscript and showed that oxidation (by glutathione, Davis et., 2021) or chemical modification of C300 (by glutathione bismuth drugs, Tao et al., 2021, and Tixocortol, Davis et., 2024) leads to Mpro inactivation and promotes monomer formation. We will cite and further discuss these studies in the Discussion. The µM-range activity of ebselen can be explained by its multi-target covalently binding to multiple cysteines. The variable efficacy of cysteine modification may account for ebselen's moderate potency, as not all modifications equally inhibit their targets.
(3) For the allosteric inhibitor pelitinib with low-uM activity, no significant differences in deuterium uptake of Mpro were observed. In terms of the binding affinity, what is the difference between pelitinib and ebselen? Some explanations could be provided about the different HDX-MS results between the two non-peptidomimetic inhibitors with similar activities.
We agree that the lack of significant HDX changes for pelitinib, despite its low-µM activity, is noteworthy. This can be likely attributed to the technical limitations of HDX-MS in detecting subtle conformational changes induced by weak, non-covalent binders, especially when compared to the pronounced effects of covalent binders such as ebselen. Ebselen’s covalent binding may induce more substantial and sustained conformational alterations, which are readily detectable by HDX-MS. We will add a brief discussion on these technical considerations and the interpretation of negative HDX-MS results for weak binders.
(4) Native MS Quantification:
The analysis of monomer-dimer ratios from native MS spectra appears qualitative or semi-quantitative. A more rigorous and quantified analysis of the percentage of dimer/monomer species under each condition, with statistical replicates, would strengthen the equilibrium shift claims. For native MS analysis of each inhibitor, the representative spectrum can be shown in the main figure together with quantified dimer/monomer fractions from replicates to show significance by statistical tests.
We thank the reviewer for the suggestion, and we will perform a more rigorous and quantitative analysis of the monomer-dimer equilibrium. For each condition (unbound Mpro and Mpro bound to each inhibitor), native MS experiments will be shown in triplicate. As suggested, we will include a representative native MS spectrum for each condition. The quantified monomer/dimer ratios from replicates will be added. The results with statistical analysis will be provided to show significance.
(5) Changes of HDX rates in certain regions seem very subtle. For example, as it states 'residues 296-304 in the C-terminal region of M pro were more flexible upon ebselen binding (Figure 4c)', the difference is barely observable. The percentage of HDX rate changes between two conditions (with p values) can be specified in the text for each fragment discussed, and any change below 5% or 10% is negligible.
We agree with the reviewer about the need for quantitative rigor in reporting HDX changes. We will calculate the fractional deuterium uptake difference for each peptide fragment discussed in the text between the inhibitor-bound and unbound states. These values, along with their statistical significance (p-values from a two-tailed t-test), will be provided in the revised figures.
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