Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, 97105-900, RS, Brazil.
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA.
Mol Inform. 2021 Aug;40(8):e2100028. doi: 10.1002/minf.202100028. Epub 2021 May 21.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 has mobilized scientific attention in search of a treatment. The cysteine-proteases, main protease (Mpro) and papain-like protease (PLpro) are important targets for antiviral drugs. In this work, we simulate the interactions between the Mpro and PLpro with Ebselen, its metabolites and derivatives with the aim of finding molecules that can potentially inhibit these enzymes. The docking data demonstrate that there are two main interactions between the thiol (-SH) group of Cys (from the protease active sites) and the electrophilic centers of the organoselenium molecules, i. e. the interaction with the carbonyl group (O=C SH) and the interaction with the Se moiety (Se SH). Both interactions may lead to an adduct formation and enzyme inhibition. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations with Ebselen indicate that the energetics of the thiol nucleophilic attack is more favorable on Se than on the carbonyl group, which is in accordance with experimental data (Jin et al. Nature, 2020, 582, 289-293). Therefore, organoselenium molecules should be further explored as inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 proteases. Furthermore, we suggest that some metabolites of Ebselen (e. g. Ebselen diselenide and methylebselenoxide) and derivatives ethaselen and ebsulfur should be tested in vitro as inhibitors of virus replication and its proteases.
由严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2 型(SARS-CoV-2)引起的 COVID-19 大流行引起了科学界对治疗方法的关注。半胱氨酸蛋白酶、主要蛋白酶(Mpro)和木瓜蛋白酶样蛋白酶(PLpro)是抗病毒药物的重要靶点。在这项工作中,我们模拟了 Mpro 和 PLpro 与 Ebselen 及其代谢物和衍生物的相互作用,目的是寻找可能抑制这些酶的分子。对接数据表明,Cys(来自蛋白酶活性位点)的巯基(-SH)基团与有机硒分子的亲电中心之间存在两种主要相互作用,即与羰基(O=C SH)的相互作用和与 Se 部分(Se SH)的相互作用。这两种相互作用都可能导致加合物的形成和酶的抑制。用 Ebselen 进行的密度泛函理论(DFT)计算表明,亲核攻击的巯基的能量在 Se 上比在羰基上更有利,这与实验数据(Jin 等人,《自然》,2020 年,582,289-293)一致。因此,应进一步探索有机硒分子作为 SARS-CoV-2 蛋白酶抑制剂。此外,我们建议测试 Ebselen 的一些代谢物(例如 Ebselen 二硒化物和甲硒醇氧化物)和衍生物 ethaselen 和 ebsulfur 作为病毒复制及其蛋白酶抑制剂的体外。