Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37493168›Full record

ArticleCurrent computer-aided drug design2024

Discovery of a Potential Allosteric Site in the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Targeting Allosteric Inhibitor to Stabilize the RBD Down State using a Computational Approach.

Tong Li, Zheng Yan, Wei Zhou, Qun Liu, Jinfeng Liu, Haibing Hua

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Article in Current computer-aided drug design, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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4citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Drugs against broad-spectrum of coronaviruses.Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tong LiSchool of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Zheng YanThe Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Jiangyin 214400, China.
Wei ZhouSchool of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Qun LiuSchool of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Jinfeng LiuSchool of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Haibing HuaThe Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Jiangyin 214400, China.

Funding

Jiangsu Major Health Risk Management and TCM Prevention and Control Policy Research Center JKFXFK-013National Key R&D Program of China 2019YFA090402Science and Technology Demonstration Project for Social Development of Jiangyin Science and Technology Bureau JY0603-A011014-220011-PB
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a worldwide public health crisis. At present, the development of effective drugs and/or related therapeutics is still the most urgent and important task for combating the virus. The viral entry and associated infectivity mainly rely on its envelope spike protein to recognize and bind to the host cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) through a conformational switch of the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) from inactive to active state. Thus, it is of great significance to design an allosteric inhibitor targeting spike to lock it in the inactive and ACE2-inaccessible state.

objectiveThis study aims to discover the potential broad-spectrum allosteric inhibitors capable of binding and stabilizing the diverse spike variants, including the wild type, Delta, and Omicron, in the inactive RBD down state.

methodsIn this work, we first detected a potential allosteric pocket within the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Then, we performed large-scale structure-based virtual screening by targeting the putative allosteric pocket to identify allosteric inhibitors that could stabilize the spike inactive state. Molecular dynamics simulations were further carried out to evaluate the effects of compound binding on the stability of spike RBD.

resultsFinally, we identified three potential allosteric inhibitors, CPD3, CPD5, and CPD6, against diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Wild-type, Delta, and Omicron variants. Our simulation results showed that the three compounds could stably bind the predicted allosteric site and effectively stabilize the spike in the inactive state.

conclusionThe three compounds provide novel chemical structures for rational drug design targeting spike protein, which is expected to greatly assist in the development of new drugs against SARS-CoV-2.

Indexed as

Allosteric SiteAntiviral AgentsMolecular Dynamics SimulationSARS-CoV-2Spike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusAllosteric RegulationAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2COVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentDrug DesignDrug DiscoveryHumansMolecular Docking SimulationProtein BindingACE2 protein, humanAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2Antiviral AgentsSpike Glycoprotein, Coronavirusspike protein, SARS-CoV-2ACE2-inaccessible state.allosteric inhibitorAllosteric siteRBD down stateSARS-CoV-2spike protein

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.