Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40730765›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Simulations and active learning enable efficient identification of an experimentally-validated broad coronavirus inhibitor.

Katarina Elez, Tim Hempel, Jonathan H Shrimp, Nicole Moor, Lluís Raich, Cheila Rocha, Robin Winter, Tuan Le, Stefan Pöhlmann, Markus Hoffmann and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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

12 authors.

Katarina ElezDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6160-8701
Tim HempelDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0073-9353
Jonathan H ShrimpNational Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9872-942X
Nicole MoorInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
Lluís RaichDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Cheila RochaInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.
Robin WinterDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Tuan LeDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Stefan PöhlmannInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6086-9136
Markus HoffmannInfection Biology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4603-7696
Matthew D HallNational Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5073-442X
Frank NoéDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. franknoe@microsoft.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4169-9324

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) SFB 1114, project C03Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) SFB/TRR 186, project A12EC | Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020) Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 897414European Commission (EC) ERC CoG 772230 "Scale-Cell"
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Drug screening resembles finding a needle in a haystack: identifying a few effective inhibitors from a large pool of potential drugs. Large experimental screens are expensive and time-consuming, while virtual screening trades off computational efficiency and experimental correlation. Here we develop a framework that combines molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with active learning. Two components drastically reduce the number of candidates needing experimental testing to less than 20: (1) a target-specific score that evaluates target inhibition and (2) extensive MD simulations to generate a receptor ensemble. The active learning approach reduces the number of compounds requiring experimental testing to less than 10 and cuts computational costs by ∼29-fold. Using this framework, we discovered BMS-262084 as a potent inhibitor of TMPRSS2 (IC50 = 1.82 nM). Cell-based experiments confirmed BMS-262084's efficacy in blocking entry of various SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses. The identified inhibitor holds promise for treating viral and other diseases involving TMPRSS2.

Indexed as

Antiviral AgentsSARS-CoV-2COVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentDrug Evaluation, PreclinicalHumansMolecular Dynamics SimulationSerine EndopeptidasesVirus InternalizationAntiviral AgentsSerine EndopeptidasesTMPRSS2 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID40730765
PMCPMC12307812

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.