Download MendeleyDiscovery of Novel Isofunctional SARS-CoV‐2 NSP14 RNA Cap Methyltransferase Inhibitors by Structure-Based Virtual Screening.
Meyer, C., Michino, M., Huggins, D.J., Garzia, A., Davis, J.A., Miller, M.W., Liverton, N., Hoffmann, H.H., Glickman, J.F., Nitsche, J., Ganichkin, O., Steinbacher, S., Rice, C.M., Meinke, P.T., Tuschl, T.(2025) ACS Med Chem Lett 16: 1789-1797
- PubMed: 40959264
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.5c00339
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
9R5T - PubMed Abstract:
In early 2020, SARS-CoV-2 spread into a worldwide pandemic, causing more than 7 million deaths. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) complementing vaccines and mitigating severe disease in at-risk populations remain important. Here, we used a structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) workflow to identify new SAH-dependent inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA cap methyltransferase NSP14. We virtually screened the Enamine and Sigma in-stock screening collections as well as the 3 orders of magnitude larger Enamine REAL make-on-demand compound library, which produced better docking scores and higher virtual hit rates. While biochemical testing of 145 in-stock library compounds yielded a single NSP14-specific inhibitor, 123 chemically synthesized Enamine REAL SBVS compounds contained 10 hits specifically inhibiting NSP14 with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC 50 ) below 10 μM. The new compounds were chemically distinct in atomic composition from any NSP14 inhibitors previously identified by conventional biochemical high-throughput screening (HTS) and may serve as starting points to develop novel SARS-CoV-2 DAAs.
- Laboratory for RNA Molecular Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, United States.
Organizational Affiliation:
