1
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Gruba N, Sikora H, Ciesielska J, Rejmak W, Lesner A. Caspase-like activity is associated with bacterial infection of the urine in urinary tract diseases. Anal Biochem 2024; 688:115473. [PMID: 38280678 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2024.115473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 01/29/2024]
Abstract
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a serious public health problem. They can be caused by a number of pathogens, but the most common are Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. Bacterial infection is diagnosed by examining a urine sample. The presence of bacteria or white blood cells is determined under a microscope or a urine culture is performed. In this study, we used a panel of chromogenic substrates for the qualitative determination of specific enzyme activity in the urine of patients with confirmed bacterial infection and/or urinary tract disease. Healthy patients were used as a control group. It turned out that in the case of Escherichia coli infection, we observed the activity of the caspase subunit of the human 20S proteasome. We did not observe similar correlations for infections with other types of bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Gruba
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Honorata Sikora
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Justyna Ciesielska
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Wiktoria Rejmak
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Adam Lesner
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
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2
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Savino DF, Silva JV, da Silva Santos S, Lourenço FR, Giarolla J. How do physicochemical properties contribute to inhibitory activity of promising peptides against Zika Virus NS3 protease? J Mol Model 2024; 30:54. [PMID: 38289526 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-024-05843-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
CONTEXT AND RESULTS Flavivirus diseases' cycles, especially Dengue and Yellow Fever, can be observed all over Brazilian territory, representing a great health concern. Additionally, there are no drugs available in therapy. In this scenario, in silico methodologies were applied to obtain physicochemical properties, as well as to better understand the ligand-biological target interaction mode of 20 previously reported NS2B/NS3 protease inhibitors of Dengue virus. Since catalytic site of flavivirus hold similarities, such as the same catalytic triad (His51, Asp75 e Ser135), the ability of this series of molecules to fit in Zika NS3 domains can be achieved. We performed an exploratory data analysis, using statistical methodologies, such as PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and HCA (Hierarchical Component Analysis), to assist the comprehension of how physicochemical properties impact the interaction observed by the docking studies, as well as to build a correlation between the respective ranked characteristics. Based on these previous studies, peptides were selected for the dynamics simulations, which were useful to better understand the ligand-protein interactions. Information relating to, for instance, energy, ΔG, average number of hydrogen bonds and distance from Ser135 (one of the main amino acids in the catalytic pocket) were discussed. In this sense, peptides 15 (considering ΔG value and Hbond number), 7 (ΔG and energy) and 1, 6, 7 and 15 (the proximity to Ser135 throughout the dynamics simulation) were highlighted as promising. Those interesting results could contribute to future studies regarding Zika virus drug design, since this infection represents a great concern in neglected populations. METHODS The models were constructed in the ChemDraw software. The ligand parametrization was performed in the CHEM3D 17.0, UCSF Chimera. Docking simulations were carried out in the GOLD software, after the redocking validation. We used ASP as the function score. Additionally, for dynamics simulations we applied GROMACS software, exploring, mainly, free binding energy calculations. Exploratory analysis was carried out in Minitab 17.3.1 statistical software. Prior to the exploratory analysis, data of quantum chemical properties of the peptides were collected in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and organized to obtain Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA).
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Affiliation(s)
- Débora Feliciano Savino
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (USP), Professor Lineu Prestes Avenue, 580, Building 13, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - João Vitor Silva
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (USP), Professor Lineu Prestes Avenue, 580, Building 13, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Soraya da Silva Santos
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (USP), Professor Lineu Prestes Avenue, 580, Building 13, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Felipe Rebello Lourenço
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (USP), Professor Lineu Prestes Avenue, 580, Building 13, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil
| | - Jeanine Giarolla
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (USP), Professor Lineu Prestes Avenue, 580, Building 13, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil.
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3
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Gruba N, Piwkowska A, Lesner A. Initial study of the detection of ADAM 10 in the urine of type-2 diabetic patients. Bioorg Chem 2023; 140:106826. [PMID: 37666108 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a disease of civilization. If left untreated, it can cause serious complications and significantly shortens the life time. DM is one of the leading causes of end-stage renal disease (uremia) worldwide. Early diagnosis is a prerequisite for successful treatment, preferably before the first symptoms appear. In this paper, we describe the optimization and synthesis of the internally quenched fluorescent substrate disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10). Using combinatorial chemistry methods with iterative deconvolution, the substrate specificity of the enzyme in non-primed and primed positions was determined. We used the ABZ-Lys-Ile-Ile-Asn-Leu-Lys-Arg-Tyr(3-NO2)-NH2 peptide to study ADAM10 activity in urine samples collected from patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, compared to urine samples from healthy volunteers. The proteolytically active enzyme was present in diabetes samples, while in the case of healthy people we did not observe any activity. In conclusion, our study provides a possible basis for further research into the potential role of ADAM10 in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Gruba
- Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Agnieszka Piwkowska
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Nephrology, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland; Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Adam Lesner
- Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
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4
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Pianka J, Gruba N, Lesner A. Novel tools to study West Nile virus NS3 protease activity. Bioorg Chem 2023; 133:106426. [PMID: 36801793 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2023.106426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
West Nile Virus (WNV) belongs to a group of pathogenic viruses called flaviviruses. West Nile virus infection can be mild, causing so-called West Nile Fever (WNF) or severe neuroinvasive form of the disease (WNND), and ultimately even death. There are currently no known medications to prevent West Nile virus infection. Only symptomatic treatment is used. To date, there are no unequivocal tests enabling a quick and unambiguous assessment of WN virus infection. The aim of the research was to obtain specific and selective tools for determining the activity of the West Nile virus serine proteinase. Using the methods of combinatorial chemistry with iterative deconvolution, the substrate specificity of the enzyme in non-primed and primed positions was determined. The FRET ABZ-Ala-Lys-Gln-Arg-Gly-Gly-Thr-Tyr(3-NO2)-NH2 substrate was obtained, characterized by kinetic parameters (KM = 4.20 ± 0.32 × 10-5 M) as for the majority of proteolytic enzymes. The obtained sequence was used to develop and synthesize highly sensitive functionalized quantum dot-based protease probes (QD). A QD WNV NS3 protease probe was obtained to detect an increase in fluorescence of 0.05 nmol enzyme in the assay system. This value was at least 20 times lower than that observed with the optimized substrate. The obtained result may be the basis for further research on the potential use of the WNV NS3 protease in the diagnosis of West Nile virus infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Pianka
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Natalia Gruba
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Adam Lesner
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
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5
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Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Transport of ZIKV Non-Structural 3 Protein Is Mediated by Importin-α/β and Exportin CRM-1. J Virol 2023; 97:e0177322. [PMID: 36475764 PMCID: PMC9888292 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01773-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Flaviviruses have a cytoplasmic replicative cycle, and crucial events, such as genome translation and replication, occur in the endoplasmic reticulum. However, some viral proteins, such as C, NS1, and NS5 from Zika virus (ZIKV) containing nuclear localization signals (NLSs) and nuclear export signals (NESs), are also located in the nucleus of Vero cells. The NS2A, NS3, and NS4A proteins from dengue virus (DENV) have also been reported to be in the nucleus of A549 cells, and our group recently reported that the NS3 protein is also located in the nucleus of Huh7 and C636 cells during DENV infection. However, the NS3 protease-helicase from ZIKV locates in the perinuclear region of infected cells and alters the morphology of the nuclear lamina, a component of the nuclear envelope. Furthermore, ZIKV NS3 has been reported to accumulate on the concave face of altered kidney-shaped nuclei and may be responsible for modifying other elements of the nuclear envelope. However, nuclear localization of NS3 from ZIKV has not been substantially investigated in human host cells. Our group has recently reported that DENV and ZIKV NS3 alter the nuclear pore complex (NPC) by cleaving some nucleoporins. Here, we demonstrate the presence of ZIKV NS3 in the nucleus of Huh7 cells early in infection and in the cytoplasm at later times postinfection. In addition, we found that ZIKV NS3 contains an NLS and a putative NES and uses the classic import (importin-α/β) and export pathway via CRM-1 to be transported between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. IMPORTANCE Flaviviruses have a cytoplasmic replication cycle, but recent evidence indicates that nuclear elements play a role in their viral replication. Viral proteins, such as NS5 and C, are imported into the nucleus, and blocking their import prevents replication. Because of the importance of the nucleus in viral replication and the role of NS3 in the modification of nuclear components, we investigated whether NS3 can be localized in the nucleus during ZIKV infection. We found that NS3 is imported into the nucleus via the importin pathway and exported to the cytoplasm via CRM-1. The significance of viral protein nuclear import and export and its relationship with infection establishment is highlighted, emphasizing the development of new host-directed antiviral therapeutic strategies.
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Santos LH, Caffarena ER, Ferreira RS. pH and non-covalent ligand binding modulate Zika virus NS2B/NS3 protease binding site residues: Discoveries from MD and constant pH MD simulations. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022; 40:10359-10372. [PMID: 34180376 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2021.1943528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a global health concern and has been linked to severe neurological pathologies. Although no medication is available yet, many efforts to develop antivirals and host cell binding inhibitors led to attractive drug-like scaffolds, mainly targeting the nonstructural NS2B/NS3 protease (NS2B/NS3pro). NS2B/NS3pro active site has several titratable residues susceptible to pH changes and ligand binding; hence, understanding these residues' protonation is essential to drug design efforts targeting the active site. Here we use in silico methods to probe non-covalent binding and its effect on pKa shifts of the active site residues on a ligand-free protease and with a non-peptidic competitive inhibitor (Ki=13.5 µM). By applying constant pH molecular dynamics, we found that the catalytic residues of the unbound NS2B/NS3pro achieved the protonation needed for the serine protease mechanism over the pH value of 8.5. Nevertheless, the protease in the holo state achieved this same scenario at lower pH values. Also, non-covalent binding affected the catalytic triad (H51, D75, and S135) by stabilizing their distances and interaction network. Thus, NS2B/NS3pro residues configuration for activity might be both pH-dependent and influenced by ligand binding. However, compound presence within the binding site destabilized the NS2B, interfering with the closed and active conformation necessary for substrate binding and catalysis. Our outcomes provide valuable insights into non-covalent inhibitor behavior and its effect on protease active site residues, impacting optimization and design of novel compounds. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucianna H Santos
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Ernesto R Caffarena
- Grupo de Biofísica Computacional e Modelagem Molecular, Programa de Computação Científica, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rafaela S Ferreira
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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7
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Chen Q, Zhou J, Yang Z, Guo J, Liu Z, Sun X, Jiang Q, Fang L, Wang D, Xiao S. An intermolecular salt bridge linking substrate binding and P1 substrate specificity switch of arterivirus 3C-like proteases. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:3409-3421. [PMID: 35832618 PMCID: PMC9271976 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.06.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Equine arteritis virus (EAV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) represent two members of the family Arteriviridae and pose a major threat to the equine- and swine-breeding industries throughout the world. Previously, we and others demonstrated that PRRSV 3C-like protease (3CLpro) had very high glutamic acid (Glu)-specificity at the P1 position (P1-Glu). Comparably, EAV 3CLpro exhibited recognition of both Glu and glutamine (Gln) at the P1 position. However, the underlying mechanisms of the P1 substrate specificity shift of arterivirus 3CLpro remain unclear. We systematically screened the specific amino acids in the S1 subsite of arterivirus 3CLpro using a cyclized luciferase-based biosensor and identified Gly116, His133 and Ser136 (using PRRSV 3CLpro numbering) are important for recognition of P1-Glu, whereas Ser136 is nonessential for recognition of P1-Gln. Molecular dynamics simulations and biochemical experiments highlighted that the PRRSV 3CLpro and EAV 3CLpro formed distinct S1 subsites for the P1 substrate specificity switch. Mechanistically, a specific intermolecular salt bridge between PRRSV 3CLpro and substrate P1-Glu (Lys138/P1-Glu) are invaluable for high Glu-specificity at the P1 position, and the exchange of K138T (salt bridge interruption, from PRRSV to EAV) shifted the specificity of PRRSV 3CLpro toward P1-Gln. In turn, the T139K exchange of EAV 3CLpro showed a noticeable shift in substrate specificity, such that substrates containing P1-Glu are likely to be recognized more efficiently. These findings identify an evolutionarily accessible mechanism for disrupting or reorganizing salt bridge with only a single mutation of arterivirus 3CLpro to trigger a substrate specificity switch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Junwei Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Zhixiang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Jiahui Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Zimin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xinyi Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Qingshi Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Liurong Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Dang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shaobo Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan 430070, China
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8
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Gruba N, Musielak M, Rejmak W, Lesner A. Detection of ADAM15 in urine from patients with bladder cancer. Anal Biochem 2022; 654:114805. [PMID: 35810783 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2022.114805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and Europe. Of the cancers, bladder cancer is the 10th most frequently diagnosed cancer and the 13th most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. There are many studies showing that proteolytic enzymes, e.g. A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinases (ADAMs), play a key role in the development and progression of neoplasms. In this paper, we present the use of chromogenic substrate of ADAM15 for the qualitative determination of specific activity of enzyme in urine of patients with confirmed bladder cancer. In the first step, we optimized the substrate molecule in non-primed positions using combinatorial chemistry. By means of the obtained ABZ-His-Ala-Arg-Gly-ANB-NH2 peptide, we detected ADAM15 activity in urine samples collected from patients diagnosed with bladder cancer. In contrast, we did not observe such activity in urine obtained from healthy volunteers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Gruba
- Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Monika Musielak
- Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Wiktoria Rejmak
- Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Adam Lesner
- Department of Environmental Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 63 Street, PL 80-308, Gdańsk, Poland
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9
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Pant S, Jena NR. C-Terminal Extended Hexapeptides as Potent Inhibitors of the NS2B-NS3 Protease of the ZIKA Virus. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:921060. [PMID: 35872792 PMCID: PMC9306491 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.921060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The Zika virus (ZIKV) protease is an attractive drug target for the design of novel inhibitors to control the ZIKV infection. As the protease substrate-binding site contains acidic residues, inhibitors with basic residues can be beneficial for the inhibition of protease activities. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and molecular mechanics with generalized Born and surface area solvation (MM/GBSA) techniques are employed herein to design potent peptide inhibitors and to understand the nature of the basic residues that can potentially stabilize the acidic residues of the protease substrate-binding site. It is found that the inclusion of K, R, and K at P1, P2, and P3 positions, respectively, and Y at the P4 position (YKRK) would generate a highly stable tetrapeptide-protease complex with a ΔGbind of ~ −80 kcal/mol. We have also shown that the C-terminal extension of this and the second most stable tetrapeptide (YRRR) with small polar residues, such as S and T would generate even more stable hexapeptide-protease complexes. The modes of interactions of these inhibitors are discussed in detail, which are in agreement with earlier experimental studies. Thus, this study is expected to aid in the design of novel antiviral drugs against the ZIKV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suyash Pant
- Department of Pharmacoinformatics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - Nihar R. Jena
- Discipline of Natural Sciences, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, India
- *Correspondence: Nihar R. Jena
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10
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Coelho C, Gallo G, Hardy L, Bottazzi ME, Campos C, Wurtele M. Biochemical Screening of Potent Zika Virus Protease Inhibitors. ChemMedChem 2022; 17:e202100695. [PMID: 35104396 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
As the Zika virus protease is an essential and well-established target for the development of antiviral agents, we here have biochemically screened for inhibitors using a purified recombinantly expressed form of this enzyme. As a result, we were able to identify 10 new Zika virus protease inhibitors. These compounds are natural products and showed strong inhibition in the biochemical assays. Inhibitory constants values for the compounds ranged from 5 nM to 8 μM. Among the most potent inhibitors are flavonoids like irigenol hexa-acetate (K i = 0.28 μM), katacine (K i = 0.26 μM), theaflavin gallate (K i = 0.40 μM) and hematein (K i = 0.33 μM). Inhibitors from other groups of natural products include sennoside A (K i = 0.19 μM) and gossypol (K i = 0.70 μM). Several of the obtained compounds are known for their beneficial health effects and have acceptable pharmacokinetic characteristics. Thus, they could be of interest as lead compounds for the development of important and essential Zika antiviral drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Coelho
- Federal University of São Paulo, Science and Technology, BRAZIL
| | - Gloria Gallo
- Federal University of Sao Paulo, Science and Technology, Av Talim 330, Sao Paulo, 12231-280, Sao Paulo, BRAZIL
| | - Leon Hardy
- University of South Florida, Physics, UNITED STATES
| | | | - Claudia Campos
- Federal University of Sao Paulo, Science and Technology, Talim 330, São José dos Campos, 12231-280, São José dos Campos, BRAZIL
| | - Martin Wurtele
- UNIFESP: Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Science and Technology, Talim 330, 12231-280, São José dos Campos, BRAZIL
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11
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Wahaab A, Mustafa BE, Hameed M, Stevenson NJ, Anwar MN, Liu K, Wei J, Qiu Y, Ma Z. Potential Role of Flavivirus NS2B-NS3 Proteases in Viral Pathogenesis and Anti-flavivirus Drug Discovery Employing Animal Cells and Models: A Review. Viruses 2021; 14:44. [PMID: 35062249 PMCID: PMC8781031 DOI: 10.3390/v14010044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Flaviviruses are known to cause a variety of diseases in humans in different parts of the world. There are very limited numbers of antivirals to combat flavivirus infection, and therefore new drug targets must be explored. The flavivirus NS2B-NS3 proteases are responsible for the cleavage of the flavivirus polyprotein, which is necessary for productive viral infection and for causing clinical infections; therefore, they are a promising drug target for devising novel drugs against different flaviviruses. This review highlights the structural details of the NS2B-NS3 proteases of different flaviviruses, and also describes potential antiviral drugs that can interfere with the viral protease activity, as determined by various studies. Moreover, optimized in vitro reaction conditions for studying the NS2B-NS3 proteases of different flaviviruses may vary and have been incorporated in this review. The increasing availability of the in silico and crystallographic/structural details of flavivirus NS2B-NS3 proteases in free and drug-bound states can pave the path for the development of promising antiflavivirus drugs to be used in clinics. However, there is a paucity of information available on using animal cells and models for studying flavivirus NS2B-NS3 proteases, as well as on the testing of the antiviral drug efficacy against NS2B-NS3 proteases. Therefore, on the basis of recent studies, an effort has also been made to propose potential cellular and animal models for the study of flavivirus NS2B-NS3 proteases for the purposes of exploring flavivirus pathogenesis and for testing the efficacy of possible drugs targets, in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdul Wahaab
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
| | - Bahar E Mustafa
- Sub Campus Toba Tek Singh, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 36050, Pakistan;
| | - Muddassar Hameed
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, State University, Fralin Life Sciences Building, 360 W Campus Blacksburg, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Nigel J. Stevenson
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Medical University of Bahrain, Busaiteen, Adliya 15503, Bahrain;
- Viral Immunology Group, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D02 R590 Dublin, Ireland
| | - Muhammad Naveed Anwar
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
| | - Ke Liu
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
| | - Jianchao Wei
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
| | - Yafeng Qiu
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
| | - Zhiyong Ma
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai 200241, China; (A.W.); (M.H.); (M.N.A.); (K.L.); (J.W.)
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12
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Eberle RJ, Olivier DS, Amaral MS, Willbold D, Arni RK, Coronado MA. Promising Natural Compounds against Flavivirus Proteases: Citrus Flavonoids Hesperetin and Hesperidin. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 10:plants10102183. [PMID: 34685992 PMCID: PMC8539695 DOI: 10.3390/plants10102183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Ubiquitous in citrus plants, Hesperidin and Hesperetin flavanones possess several biological functions, including antiviral activity. Arbovirus infections pose an ever-increasing threat to global healthcare systems. Among the severe arboviral infections currently known are those caused by members of the Flavivirus genus, for example, Dengue Virus-DENV, Yellow Fever Virus-YFV, and West Nile Virus-WNV. In this study, we characterize the inhibitory effect of Hesperidin and Hesperetin against DENV2, YFV, and WNV NS2B/NS3 proteases. We report the noncompetitive inhibition of the NS2B/NS3pro by the two bioflavonoids with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values <5 µM for HST and <70 µM for HSD. The determined dissociation constants (KD) of both flavonoids is significantly below the threshold value of 30 µM. Our findings demonstrate that a new generation of anti-flavivirus drugs could be developed based on selective optimization of both molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphael J. Eberle
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany;
- Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
- Correspondence: (R.J.E.); (M.A.C.)
| | - Danilo S. Olivier
- Integrated Sciences Center, Federal University of Tocantins, Araguaína 77824-838, Brazil;
| | - Marcos S. Amaral
- Institute of Physics, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande 79070-900, Brazil;
| | - Dieter Willbold
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany;
- Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
- JuStruct: Jülich Centre for Structural Biology, Forchungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Raghuvir K. Arni
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Departament of Physics, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Jose do Rio Preto 15054-000, Brazil;
| | - Monika A. Coronado
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany;
- Correspondence: (R.J.E.); (M.A.C.)
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13
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Maus H, Barthels F, Hammerschmidt SJ, Kopp K, Millies B, Gellert A, Ruggieri A, Schirmeister T. SAR of novel benzothiazoles targeting an allosteric pocket of DENV and ZIKV NS2B/NS3 proteases. Bioorg Med Chem 2021; 47:116392. [PMID: 34509861 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2021.116392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), both mosquito-borne members of the Flaviviridae family, have emerged as intercontinental health issues since their vectors have spread from their tropical origins to temperate climate zones due to climate change and increasing globalization. DENV and ZIKV are positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses, whose genomes consist of three structural (capsid, membrane precursor, envelope) and seven non-structural (NS) proteins, all of which are initially expressed as a single precursor polyprotein. For virus maturation, the polyprotein processing is accomplished by host proteases and the viral NS2B/NS3 protease complex, whose inhibitors have been shown to be effective antiviral agents with loss of viral pathogenicity. In this work, we elucidate new structure-activity relationships of benzo[d]thiazole-based allosteric NS2B/NS3 inhibitors. We developed a new series of Y-shaped inhibitors, which, with its larger hydrophobic contact surface, should bind to previously unaddressed regions of the allosteric NS2B/NS3 binding pocket. By scaffold-hopping, we varied the benzo[d]thiazole core and identified benzofuran as a new lead scaffold shifting the selectivity of initially ZIKV-targeting inhibitors to higher activities towards the DENV protease. In addition, we were able to increase the ligand efficiency from 0.27 to 0.41 by subsequent inhibitor truncation and identified N-(5,6-dihydroxybenzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-4-iodobenzamide as a novel sub-micromolar NS2B/NS3 inhibitor. Utilizing cell-based assays, we could prove the antiviral activity in cellulo. Overall, we report new series of sub-micromolar allosteric DENV and ZIKV inhibitors with good efficacy profile in terms of cytotoxicity and protease inhibition selectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Maus
- Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Fabian Barthels
- Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Stefan Josef Hammerschmidt
- Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Katja Kopp
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, Center for Integrative Infectious Disease Research, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 344, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Benedikt Millies
- Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Andrea Gellert
- Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Alessia Ruggieri
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, Center for Integrative Infectious Disease Research, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 344, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tanja Schirmeister
- Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
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14
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De Jesús-González LA, Palacios-Rápalo S, Reyes-Ruiz JM, Osuna-Ramos JF, Cordero-Rivera CD, Farfan-Morales CN, Gutiérrez-Escolano AL, del Ángel RM. The Nuclear Pore Complex Is a Key Target of Viral Proteases to Promote Viral Replication. Viruses 2021; 13:v13040706. [PMID: 33921849 PMCID: PMC8073804 DOI: 10.3390/v13040706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Various viruses alter nuclear pore complex (NPC) integrity to access the nuclear content favoring their replication. Alteration of the nuclear pore complex has been observed not only in viruses that replicate in the nucleus but also in viruses with a cytoplasmic replicative cycle. In this last case, the alteration of the NPC can reduce the transport of transcription factors involved in the immune response or mRNA maturation, or inhibit the transport of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, favoring the translation of viral mRNAs or allowing access to nuclear factors necessary for viral replication. In most cases, the alteration of the NPC is mediated by viral proteins, being the viral proteases, one of the most critical groups of viral proteins that regulate these nucleus–cytoplasmic transport changes. This review focuses on the description and discussion of the role of viral proteases in the modification of nucleus–cytoplasmic transport in viruses with cytoplasmic replicative cycles and its repercussions in viral replication.
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15
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Liu L, Downs M, Guidry J, Wojcik EJ. Inter-organelle interactions between the ER and mitotic spindle facilitates Zika protease cleavage of human Kinesin-5 and results in mitotic defects. iScience 2021; 24:102385. [PMID: 33997675 PMCID: PMC8100630 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Here we identify human Kinesin-5, Kif11/HsEg5, as a cellular target of Zika protease. We show that Zika NS2B-NS3 protease targets several sites within the motor domain of HsEg5 irrespective of motor binding to microtubules. The native integral ER-membrane protease triggers mitotic spindle positioning defects and a prolonged metaphase delay in cultured cells. Our data support a model whereby loss of function of HsEg5 is mediated by Zika protease and is spatially restricted to the ER-mitotic spindle interface during mitosis. The resulting phenotype is distinct from the monopolar phenotype that typically results from uniform inhibition of HsEg5 by RNAi or drugs. In addition, our data reveal novel inter-organelle interactions between the mitotic apparatus and the surrounding reticulate ER network. Given that Kif11 is haplo-insufficient in humans, and reduced dosage results in microcephaly, we propose that Zika protease targeting of HsEg5 may be a key event in the etiology of Zika syndrome microcephaly. Zika protease cleavage of Kinesin-5 impairs mitotic progression Inter-organelle interactions spatially control Zika proteolysis of Kinesin-5 Native Zika protease affects mitosis differently than soluble Zika protease Zika protease may elicit fetal microcephaly and blindness via Kif11/Kinesin-5
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Affiliation(s)
- Liqiong Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU School of Medicine & Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Micquel Downs
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU School of Medicine & Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Jesse Guidry
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU School of Medicine & Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
- The Proteomics Core Facility, LSU School of Medicine & Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Edward J Wojcik
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU School of Medicine & Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
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16
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Eberle RJ, Olivier DS, Pacca CC, Avilla CMS, Nogueira ML, Amaral MS, Willbold D, Arni RK, Coronado MA. In vitro study of Hesperetin and Hesperidin as inhibitors of zika and chikungunya virus proteases. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0246319. [PMID: 33661906 PMCID: PMC7932080 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The potential outcome of flavivirus and alphavirus co-infections is worrisome due to the development of severe diseases. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide live under the risk of infections caused by viruses like chikungunya virus (CHIKV, genus Alphavirus), dengue virus (DENV, genus Flavivirus), and zika virus (ZIKV, genus Flavivirus). So far, neither any drug exists against the infection by a single virus, nor against co-infection. The results described in our study demonstrate the inhibitory potential of two flavonoids derived from citrus plants: Hesperetin (HST) against NS2B/NS3pro of ZIKV and nsP2pro of CHIKV and, Hesperidin (HSD) against nsP2pro of CHIKV. The flavonoids are noncompetitive inhibitors and the determined IC50 values are in low µM range for HST against ZIKV NS2B/NS3pro (12.6 ± 1.3 µM) and against CHIKV nsP2pro (2.5 ± 0.4 µM). The IC50 for HSD against CHIKV nsP2pro was 7.1 ± 1.1 µM. The calculated ligand efficiencies for HST were > 0.3, which reflect its potential to be used as a lead compound. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations display the effect of HST and HSD on the protease 3D models of CHIKV and ZIKV. Conformational changes after ligand binding and their effect on the substrate-binding pocket of the proteases were investigated. Additionally, MTT assays demonstrated a very low cytotoxicity of both the molecules. Based on our results, we assume that HST comprise a chemical structure that serves as a starting point molecule to develop a potent inhibitor to combat CHIKV and ZIKV co-infections by inhibiting the virus proteases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphael J. Eberle
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Departament of Physics, Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas (Ibilce), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Jose do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | | | - Carolina C. Pacca
- Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas (Ibilce), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Jose do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil
- FACERES Medical School, São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
| | - Clarita M. S. Avilla
- Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas (Ibilce), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Jose do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Mauricio L. Nogueira
- Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto–FAMERP, São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
| | - Marcos S. Amaral
- Institute of Physics, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Dieter Willbold
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße, Düsseldorf, Germany
- JuStruct: Jülich Centre for Structural Biology, Forchungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
| | - Raghuvir K. Arni
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Departament of Physics, Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas (Ibilce), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Jose do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Monika A. Coronado
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Departament of Physics, Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas (Ibilce), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Jose do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
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17
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Cui X, Zhou R, Huang C, Zhang R, Wang J, Zhang Y, Ding J, Li X, Zhou J, Cen S. Identification of Theaflavin-3,3'-Digallate as a Novel Zika Virus Protease Inhibitor. Front Pharmacol 2020; 11:514313. [PMID: 33192499 PMCID: PMC7609463 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.514313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence indicates that Zika virus (ZIKV) is closely related to neurological disorders such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. There are currently no effective vaccines and FDA-approved inhibitors against ZIKV infection. The flaviviral heterodimeric serine protease NS2B-NS3 plays an essential role in ZIKV maturation and replication, thus becoming a promising target in anti-ZIKV therapy. Herein, we developed a fluorescence-based screening assay to search for inhibitors targeting the ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease (ZIKVpro), and identified theaflavin-3,3’-digallate (ZP10), a natural active compound derived from black tea, as a potent ZIKV protease inhibitor in vitro (IC50 = 2.3 μM). ZP10 exhibited dose-dependent inhibitory effect on ZIKV replication (EC50 = 7.65 μM). Western blot analysis suggested that ZP10 inhibited the cleavage processing of viral polyprotein precursor in cells either infected with ZIKV or expressing minimal self-cleaving proteinase NS2B-3 protease, resulting in inhibition of virus growth. Moreover, ZP10 was showed to directly bind to ZIKVpro, and a docking model further revealed that ZP10 interacted with several critical residues at the proteolytic cavity of the ZIKVpro. This study highlights that ZP10 has anti-ZIKV potency through ZIKVpro inhibition, which indicates its potential application in anti-ZIKV therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangling Cui
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Rui Zhou
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Chenchao Huang
- Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.,Drug Discovery & Innovation Center, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Rongyu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.,Drug Discovery & Innovation Center, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Jing Wang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Yongxin Zhang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Jiwei Ding
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.,CAMS Key Laboratory of Antiviral Drug Research, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoyu Li
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Jinming Zhou
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Advanced Catalysis Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.,Drug Discovery & Innovation Center, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Shan Cen
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China.,CAMS Key Laboratory of Antiviral Drug Research, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.,Beijing Institute of Tropical Medicine, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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18
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Chen S, Yim JJ, Bogyo M. Synthetic and biological approaches to map substrate specificities of proteases. Biol Chem 2020; 401:165-182. [PMID: 31639098 DOI: 10.1515/hsz-2019-0332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Proteases are regulators of diverse biological pathways including protein catabolism, antigen processing and inflammation, as well as various disease conditions, such as malignant metastasis, viral infection and parasite invasion. The identification of substrates of a given protease is essential to understand its function and this information can also aid in the design of specific inhibitors and active site probes. However, the diversity of putative protein and peptide substrates makes connecting a protease to its downstream substrates technically difficult and time-consuming. To address this challenge in protease research, a range of methods have been developed to identify natural protein substrates as well as map the overall substrate specificity patterns of proteases. In this review, we highlight recent examples of both synthetic and biological methods that are being used to define the substrate specificity of protease so that new protease-specific tools and therapeutic agents can be developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Chen
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Joshua J Yim
- Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Matthew Bogyo
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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19
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Karwal P, Vats ID, Sinha N, Singhal A, Sehgal T, Kumari P. Therapeutic Applications of Peptides against Zika Virus: A Review. Curr Med Chem 2020; 27:3906-3923. [DOI: 10.2174/0929867326666190111115132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2018] [Revised: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 12/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Zika Virus (ZIKV) belongs to the class of flavivirus that can be transmitted by Aedes
mosquitoes. The number of Zika virus caused cases of acute infections, neurological disorders and
congenital microcephaly are rapidly growing and therefore, in 2016, the World Health Organization
declared a global “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”. Anti-ZIKV therapeutic and
vaccine development strategies are growing worldwide in recent years, however, no specific and safe
treatment is available till date to save the human life. Currently, development of peptide therapeutics
against ZIKV has attracted rising attention on account of their high safety concern and low development
cost, in comparison to small therapeutic molecules and antibody-based anti-viral drugs. In present
review, an overview of ZIKV inhibition by peptide-based inhibitors including E-protein derived
peptides, antimicrobial peptides, frog skin peptides and probiotic peptides has been discussed. Peptides
inhibitors have also been reported to act against NS5, NS2B-NS3 protease and proteasome in
order to inhibit ZIKV infection. Recent advances in peptide-based therapeutics and vaccine have
been reviewed and their future promise against ZIKV infections has been explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Preeti Karwal
- Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110019, India
| | - Ishwar Dutt Vats
- Department of Chemistry, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110019, India
| | - Niharika Sinha
- Drug Development Laboratory Group, Gautam Buddha University, Noida, India
| | - Anchal Singhal
- Department of Chemistry, St. Joseph's College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Teena Sehgal
- Department of Chemistry, HMRITM, GGSIP University, New Delhi, India
| | - Pratibha Kumari
- Department of Chemistry, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110019, India
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20
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Pathak N, Kuo YP, Chang TY, Huang CT, Hung HC, Hsu JTA, Yu GY, Yang JM. Zika Virus NS3 Protease Pharmacophore Anchor Model and Drug Discovery. Sci Rep 2020; 10:8929. [PMID: 32488021 PMCID: PMC7265434 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65489-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) of the flaviviridae family, is the cause of emerging infections characterized by fever, Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in adults and microcephaly in newborns. There exists an urgent unmet clinical need for anti-ZIKV drugs for the treatment of infected individuals. In the current work, we aimed at the promising virus drug target, ZIKV NS3 protease and constructed a Pharmacophore Anchor (PA) model for the active site. The PA model reveals a total of 12 anchors (E, H, V) mapped across the active site subpockets. We further identified five of these anchors to be critical core anchors (CEH1, CH3, CH7, CV1, CV3) conserved across flaviviral proteases. The ZIKV protease PA model was then applied in anchor-enhanced virtual screening yielding 14 potential antiviral candidates, which were tested by in vitro assays. We discovered FDA drugs Asunaprevir and Simeprevir to have potent anti-ZIKV activities with EC50 values 4.7 µM and 0.4 µM, inhibiting the viral protease with IC50 values 6.0 µM and 2.6 µM respectively. Additionally, the PA model anchors aided in the exploration of inhibitor binding mechanisms. In conclusion, our PA model serves as a promising guide map for ZIKV protease targeted drug discovery and the identified ‘previr’ FDA drugs are promising for anti-ZIKV treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikhil Pathak
- Bioinformatics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.,Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Ping Kuo
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, 35053, Taiwan
| | - Teng-Yuan Chang
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, 35053, Taiwan
| | - Chin-Ting Huang
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, 35053, Taiwan
| | - Hui-Chen Hung
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, 35053, Taiwan
| | - John Tsu-An Hsu
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, 35053, Taiwan
| | - Guann-Yi Yu
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, 35053, Taiwan
| | - Jinn-Moon Yang
- Bioinformatics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan. .,Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan. .,Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan.
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21
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The Nuclear Pore Complex: A Target for NS3 Protease of Dengue and Zika Viruses. Viruses 2020; 12:v12060583. [PMID: 32466480 PMCID: PMC7354628 DOI: 10.3390/v12060583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Revised: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
During flavivirus infection, some viral proteins move to the nucleus and cellular components are relocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Thus, the integrity of the main regulator of the nuclear-cytoplasmic transport, the nuclear pore complex (NPC), was evaluated during infection with dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). We found that while during DENV infection the integrity and distribution of at least three nucleoporins (Nup), Nup153, Nup98, and Nup62 were altered, during ZIKV infection, the integrity of TPR, Nup153, and Nup98 were modified. In this work, several lines of evidence indicate that the viral serine protease NS2B3 is involved in Nups cleavage. First, the serine protease inhibitors, TLCK and Leupeptin, prevented Nup98 and Nup62 cleavage. Second, the transfection of DENV and ZIKV NS2B3 protease was sufficient to inhibit the nuclear ring recognition detected in mock-infected cells with the Mab414 antibody. Third, the mutant but not the active (WT) protease was unable to cleave Nups in transfected cells. Thus, here we describe for the first time that the NS3 protein from flavivirus plays novel functions hijacking the nuclear pore complex, the main controller of the nuclear-cytoplasmic transport.
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22
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Xanthenedione (and intermediates involved in their synthesis) inhibit Zika virus migration to the central nervous system in murine neonatal models. Microbes Infect 2020; 22:489-499. [PMID: 32353601 DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2020.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Revised: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Zika Virus (ZIKV), an arbovirus that belongs to the Flaviviridae family, has become a global concern since its outbreak in the Americas in 2015. With symptoms similar to other Flavivirus as Dengue and Yellow Fever viruses, infections by ZIKV have also been related to several neurological complications such as microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barre syndrome. Considering the high prevalence of ZIKV infection in certain areas, the risks that the virus poses to fetal brain development, and the fact that there is no vaccine or specific prophylaxis available, an effective treatment capable of preventing the infection is of potential interest. Therefore, in the present investigation, the antiviral activity on ZIKV of a group of xanthenodiones and intermediate ketones involved in their synthesis was evaluated for the first time. It was found that the compound 2-(2,6-dichlorobenzylidene)cyclohexane-1,3-dione 27 was able to completely inhibit the viral infection of Vero cells as well as to significantly reduce viral load in the brains of newborn Swiss mice. These effects are related to a direct interaction of the compound with the viral particle, blocking the viral adsorption.
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23
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Martins IC, Santos NC. Intrinsically disordered protein domains in flavivirus infection. Arch Biochem Biophys 2020; 683:108298. [PMID: 32045581 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2020.108298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered protein regions are at the core of biological processes and involved in key protein-ligand interactions. The Flavivirus proteins, of viruses of great biomedical importance such as Zika and dengue viruses, exemplify this. Several proteins of these viruses have disordered regions that are of the utmost importance for biological activity. Disordered proteins can adopt several conformations, each able to interact with and/or bind to different ligands. In fact, such interactions can help stabilize a particular fold. Moreover, by being promiscuous in the number of target molecules they can bind to, these protein regions increase the number of functions that their small proteome (10 proteins) can achieve. A folding energy waterfall better describes the protein folding landscape of these proteins. A disordered protein can be thought as rolling down the folding energy cascade, in order "to fall, fold and function". This is the case of many viral protein regions, as seen in the flaviviruses proteome. Given their small size, flaviviruses are a good model system for understanding the role of intrinsically disordered protein regions in viral function. Finally, studying these viruses disordered protein regions will certainly contribute to the development of therapeutic approaches against such promising (yet challenging) targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivo C Martins
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
| | - Nuno C Santos
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
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24
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Nutho B, Rungrotmongkol T. Binding recognition of substrates in NS2B/NS3 serine protease of Zika virus revealed by molecular dynamics simulations. J Mol Graph Model 2019; 92:227-235. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2019.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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25
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Peptide derivatives as inhibitors of NS2B-NS3 protease from Dengue, West Nile, and Zika flaviviruses. Bioorg Med Chem 2019; 27:3963-3978. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.07.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2019] [Revised: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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26
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Rassias G, Zogali V, Swarbrick CMD, Ki Chan KW, Chan SA, Gwee CP, Wang S, Kaplanai E, Canko A, Kiousis D, Lescar J, Luo D, Matsoukas MT, Vasudevan SG. Cell-active carbazole derivatives as inhibitors of the zika virus protease. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 180:536-545. [PMID: 31344613 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 07/02/2019] [Accepted: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection recently resulted in an international health emergency the Americas in and despite its high profile there is currently no approved treatment for ZIKV infection with millions of people being at risk. ZIKV is a member of Flaviviridae family which includes prominent members such as dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV). One of the best validated targets for developing anti-flaviviral treatment for DENV and WNV infection is the NS2B/NS3 protease. However the inhibitors reported to date have shown limited promise for further clinical development largely due to poor cellular activity. Prompted by the conserved nature of the viral NS2B/NS3 protease across flaviviruses, we envisaged that small molecule inhibitors of the ZIKVpro may be developed by applying rational design on previously reported scaffolds with demonstrated activity against other flaviviral proteases. Starting with an earlier WNVpro hit we performed a scaffold hopping exercise and discovered that certain carbazole derivatives bearing amidine groups possessed submicromolar potency and significant cellular activity against ZIKV. We successfully addressed various issues with the synthesis of novel N-substituted carbazole-based amidines thus permitting a targeted SAR campaign. The in vitro biochemical and cell-based inhibitory profiles exhibited by the lead molecule described in this work (ZIKVpro IC50 0.52 μM, EC50 1.25 μM), is among the best reported to date. Furthermore, these molecules possess capacity for further optimization of pharmacokinetics and may evolve to broad spectrum flaviviral protease inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerasimos Rassias
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, Patra, 26504, Greece.
| | - Vasiliki Zogali
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, Patra, 26504, Greece
| | - Crystall M D Swarbrick
- Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road 169857, Singapore; Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Australia
| | - Kitti Wing Ki Chan
- Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road 169857, Singapore
| | - Shu Ann Chan
- Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road 169857, Singapore
| | - Chin Piaw Gwee
- Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road 169857, Singapore
| | - Sai Wang
- Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road 169857, Singapore
| | - Entzy Kaplanai
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, Patra, 26504, Greece
| | - Aleksander Canko
- Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, Patra, 26504, Greece
| | | | - Julien Lescar
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | - Dahai Luo
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
| | | | - Subhash G Vasudevan
- Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road 169857, Singapore.
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27
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Hammerstein F, Lauth LM, Hammerschmidt S, Wagner A, Schirmeister T, Hellmich UA. Cisautocatalytic cleavage of glycine‐linked Zika virus NS2B‐NS3 protease constructs. FEBS Lett 2019; 593:2204-2213. [DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2018] [Revised: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Luca M. Lauth
- Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Stefan Hammerschmidt
- Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Annika Wagner
- Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
- Centre for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ) Goethe‐University Frankfurt Germany
| | - Tanja Schirmeister
- Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
| | - Ute A. Hellmich
- Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany
- Centre for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ) Goethe‐University Frankfurt Germany
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28
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Faizan MI, Naqvi AT, Hassan MI, Abdullah M, Tazeen A, Shafat Z, Hisamuddin M, Alam A, Ali S, Ali S, Farooqui A, Hamza A, Parveen N, Deeba F, Ahmed A, Parveen S. Structure Based Identification of Potential Inhibitors of NS3 Protein of Zika Virus. LETT DRUG DES DISCOV 2019. [DOI: 10.2174/1570180815666180821105012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Background:The re-emerging Zika virus has posed a serious threat to human health due to its association with the neurological disorders. The NS3 protein of Zika virus plays a pivotal role in the genome replication and thus may prove to be a critical target for the drug designing studies.Objective:The present study was conceptualized to analyze the crystal structure of NS3 protein of Zika virus followed by the identification of it’s potential inhibitors.Methods:Crystal structure of the NS3 protein was evaluated in detail. Docking of the NS3 protein was done with 130 different ligands including dengue virus inhibitors and their similar compounds along with some approved drugs. The drug likeliness properties were checked for non drug compounds.Results:Structural analysis of the NS3 protein revealed three important sites namely ATP- and RNAbinding sites as well as a central cavity. The selected ten ligands (ZINC05487635, ZINC0092398, ZINC13345444, 4-methoxyphenyl 4-chloro-3-nitrobenzoate, Luteolin, Ivermectin, Suramin, Dasatinib, Panduratin A, and ARDP0009) showed a higher binding affinity for the NS3 protein and good drug likeliness properties.Conclusion:These inhibitors could possibly act as potential lead molecules for future drug designing studies. Our present computational data is envisaged to be useful for gathering experimental evidences towards the development of potential therapeutic molecules against this arthropod mediated pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md. Imam Faizan
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Abu Turab Naqvi
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Md. Imtaiyaz Hassan
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Mohd. Abdullah
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Ayesha Tazeen
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Zoya Shafat
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Malik Hisamuddin
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Aftab Alam
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Shahnawaz Ali
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Sher Ali
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Anam Farooqui
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Abu Hamza
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Nazish Parveen
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Farah Deeba
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - Anwar Ahmed
- Protein Research Chair, Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Shama Parveen
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
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29
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de Vries LE, Sanchez MI, Groborz K, Kuppens L, Poreba M, Lehmann C, Nevins N, Withers-Martinez C, Hirst DJ, Yuan F, Arastu-Kapur S, Horn M, Mares M, Bogyo M, Drag M, Deu E. Characterization of P. falciparum dipeptidyl aminopeptidase 3 specificity identifies differences in amino acid preferences between peptide-based substrates and covalent inhibitors. FEBS J 2019; 286:3998-4023. [PMID: 31177613 PMCID: PMC6851853 DOI: 10.1111/febs.14953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Malarial dipeptidyl aminopeptidases (DPAPs) are cysteine proteases important for parasite development thus making them attractive drug targets. In order to develop inhibitors specific to the parasite enzymes, it is necessary to map the determinants of substrate specificity of the parasite enzymes and its mammalian homologue cathepsin C (CatC). Here, we screened peptide-based libraries of substrates and covalent inhibitors to characterize the differences in specificity between parasite DPAPs and CatC, and used this information to develop highly selective DPAP1 and DPAP3 inhibitors. Interestingly, while the primary amino acid specificity of a protease is often used to develop potent inhibitors, we show that equally potent and highly specific inhibitors can be developed based on the sequences of nonoptimal peptide substrates. Finally, our homology modelling and docking studies provide potential structural explanations of the differences in specificity between DPAP1, DPAP3, and CatC, and between substrates and inhibitors in the case of DPAP3. Overall, this study illustrates that focusing the development of protease inhibitors solely on substrate specificity might overlook important structural features that can be exploited to develop highly potent and selective compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura E de Vries
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Mateo I Sanchez
- Department of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Katarzyna Groborz
- Division of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Laurie Kuppens
- Chemical Biology Approaches to Malaria Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Marcin Poreba
- Division of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Christine Lehmann
- Chemical Biology Approaches to Malaria Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Neysa Nevins
- Computational Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Collegeville, PA, USA
| | | | - David J Hirst
- Crick-GSK Biomedical LinkLabs, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, UK
| | - Fang Yuan
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Shirin Arastu-Kapur
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Martin Horn
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Mares
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Matthew Bogyo
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Marcin Drag
- Division of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Edgar Deu
- Chemical Biology Approaches to Malaria Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
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30
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Majerová T, Novotný P, Krýsová E, Konvalinka J. Exploiting the unique features of Zika and Dengue proteases for inhibitor design. Biochimie 2019; 166:132-141. [PMID: 31077760 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2019.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Zika and Dengue viruses have attracted substantial attention from researchers in light of recent outbreaks of Dengue fever and increases in cases of congenital microcephaly in areas with Zika incidence. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge about Zika and Dengue proteases. These enzymes have several interesting features: 1) NS3 serine protease requires the activating co-factor NS2B, which is anchored in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum; 2) NS2B displays extensive conformational dynamics; 3) NS3 is a multidomain protein with proteolytic, NTPase, RNA 5' triphosphatase and helicase activity and has many protein-protein interaction partners; 4) NS3 is autoproteolytically released from its precursor. Attempts to design tight-binding and specific active-site inhibitors are complicated by the facts that the substrate pocket of the NS2B-NS3 protease is flat and the active-site ligands are charged. The ionic character of potential active-site inhibitors negatively influences their cell permeability. Possibilities to block cis-autoprocessing of the protease precursor have recently been considered. Additionally, potential allosteric sites on NS2B-NS3 proteases have been identified and allosteric compounds have been designed to impair substrate binding and/or block the NS2B-NS3 interaction. Such compounds could be specific to viral proteases, without off-target effects on host serine proteases, and could have favorable pharmacokinetic profiles. This review discusses various groups of inhibitors of these proteases according to their mechanisms of action and chemical structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taťána Majerová
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo Nám. 2, 16610, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Novotný
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo Nám. 2, 16610, Prague 6, Czech Republic; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, 12843, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Eliška Krýsová
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo Nám. 2, 16610, Prague 6, Czech Republic; Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, 12843, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Konvalinka
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo Nám. 2, 16610, Prague 6, Czech Republic; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, 12843, Prague, Czech Republic.
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31
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Kumar A, Liang B, Aarthy M, Singh SK, Garg N, Mysorekar IU, Giri R. Hydroxychloroquine Inhibits Zika Virus NS2B-NS3 Protease. ACS OMEGA 2018; 3:18132-18141. [PMID: 30613818 PMCID: PMC6312647 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Zika virus is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that causes devastating fetal outcomes in the context of maternal infection during pregnancy. An important target for drugs combatting Zika virus pathogenicity is NS2B-NS3 protease, which plays an essential role in hydrolysis and maturation of the flavivirus polyprotein. We identify hydroxychloroquine, a drug that already has approved uses in pregnancy, as a possible inhibitor of NS2B-NS3 protease by using a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug library, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations. Further, to gain insight into its inhibitory potential toward NS2B-NS3 protease, we performed enzyme kinetic studies, which revealed that hydroxychloroquine inhibits protease activity with an inhibition constant (K i) of 92.34 ± 11.91 μM. Additionally, hydroxychloroquine significantly decreases Zika virus infection in placental cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankur Kumar
- Indian
Institute of Technology Mandi, Mandi 175005, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Brooke Liang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Health Sciences, and Department of
Pathology and Immunology, Washington University
School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United
States
| | - Murali Aarthy
- Department
of Bioinformatics, Computer Aided Drug Design and Molecular Modeling
Laboratory, Alagappa University, Science Block, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Sanjeev Kumar Singh
- Department
of Bioinformatics, Computer Aided Drug Design and Molecular Modeling
Laboratory, Alagappa University, Science Block, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Neha Garg
- Indian
Institute of Technology Mandi, Mandi 175005, Himachal Pradesh, India
- BioX Center, Indian Institute
of Technology Mandi, Mandi 175005, Himachal Pradesh, India
| | - Indira U. Mysorekar
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Health Sciences, and Department of
Pathology and Immunology, Washington University
School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United
States
| | - Rajanish Giri
- Indian
Institute of Technology Mandi, Mandi 175005, Himachal Pradesh, India
- BioX Center, Indian Institute
of Technology Mandi, Mandi 175005, Himachal Pradesh, India
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32
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Tangsongcharoen C, Roytrakul S, Smith DR. Analysis of cellular proteome changes in response to ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease expression. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2018; 1867:89-97. [PMID: 30391636 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2018.10.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/29/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The recent emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused global concern as a result of the association with neurological disorders, and brain development dysfunction in fetuses of mothers who become infected with ZIKV during pregnancy. The NS2B-NS3 protease is important for viral replication and offers an attractive drug target. In addition to processing the viral polypeptide, evidence has shown that the NS2B-NS3 protease also targets cellular proteins as part of the viral replication process. This study sought to determine new host cell protein targets of ZIKV NS2B-NS3 (zNS2B-NS3). Plasmids encoding the protease domains of zNS2B-NS3pro and an inactive zNS2B-NS3(S135A) were transfected into HEK293T/17 cells and differentially expressed proteins were detected by 2D gel electrophoresis. A total of 18 protein spots were observed as differentially expressed between zNS2B-NS3pro and zNS2B-NS3(S135A), of which 7 were selected for identification by mass spectrometry. Four proteins (protein disulfide-isomerase A3 (PDIA3), heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 (hnRNP A2/B1), voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) and aldolase A (ALDOA)) were selected for validation by independent transient expression and western blot analysis. Three proteins (PDIA3, hnRNP A2/B1 and ALDOA) were successfully validated, but only two proteins (PDIA3 and ALDOA) were shown to be regulated in ZIKV infection in agreement with the results of the transfection experiments. This study has identified two proteins, PDIA3 an ALDOA whose expression is modulated by the ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease, and these proteins are involved in the ER stress response and glycolysis respectively, two critical cellular processes in ZIKV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sittiruk Roytrakul
- National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Pathum Thani, Thailand
| | - Duncan R Smith
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
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33
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Coronado MA, Eberle RJ, Bleffert N, Feuerstein S, Olivier DS, de Moraes FR, Willbold D, Arni RK. Zika virus NS2B/NS3 proteinase: A new target for an old drug - Suramin a lead compound for NS2B/NS3 proteinase inhibition. Antiviral Res 2018; 160:118-125. [PMID: 30393012 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2018.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Zika virus infection is the focus of much research due to the medical and social repercussions. Due the role of the viral NS2B/NS3 proteinase in maturation of the viral proteins, it had become an attractive antiviral target. Numerous investigations on viral epidemiology, structure and function analysis, vaccines, and therapeutic drugs have been conducted around the world. At present, no approved vaccine or even drugs have been reported. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop therapeutic agents to cure this epidemic disease. In the present study, we identified the polyanion suramin, an approved antiparasitic drug with antiviral properties, as a potential inhibitor of Zika virus complex NS2B/NS3 proteinase with IC50 of 47 μM. Using fluorescence spectroscopy results we could determine a kd value of 28 μM and had shown that the ligand does not affect the thermal stability of the protein. STD NMR spectroscopy experiments and molecular docking followed by molecular dynamics simulation identified the binding epitopes of the molecule and shows the mode of interaction, respectively. The computational analysis showed that suramin block the Ser135 residue and interact with the catalytically histidine residue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Aparecida Coronado
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Department of Physics, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto SP, 15054-000, Brazil.
| | - Raphael Josef Eberle
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Department of Physics, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto SP, 15054-000, Brazil
| | - Nicole Bleffert
- Institute of Complex System, Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forchungszentrum Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße, Germany
| | - Sophie Feuerstein
- Institute of Complex System, Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forchungszentrum Jülich, Germany; Institute of Complex System, Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forchungszentrum Jülich, Germany
| | - Danilo Silva Olivier
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Department of Physics, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto SP, 15054-000, Brazil
| | - Fabio Rogerio de Moraes
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Department of Physics, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto SP, 15054-000, Brazil
| | - Dieter Willbold
- Institute of Complex System, Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forchungszentrum Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße, Germany
| | - Raghuvir Krishnaswamy Arni
- Multiuser Center for Biomolecular Innovation, Department of Physics, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São José do Rio Preto SP, 15054-000, Brazil.
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34
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Gruba N, Martinez JIR, Grzywa R, Wysocka M, Skoreński M, Dabrowska A, Łęcka M, Suder P, Sieńczyk M, Pyrc K, Lesner A. One Step Beyond: Design of Substrates Spanning Primed Positions of Zika Virus NS2B-NS3 Protease. ACS Med Chem Lett 2018; 9:1025-1029. [PMID: 30344911 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.8b00316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the mosquito-borne Zika virus was discovered in the late 1940s of the 20th century, for years it was neglected, as the disease in humans was rare and relatively mild. Viral NS2B-NS3 protease is essential for virus replication, and except for maturation of viral proteins, it also modulates the infection microenvironment to facilitate virus invasion. Here, we report the combinatorial chemistry approach for the synthesis of internally quenched substrates of the Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease that were optimized in prime positions of the peptide chain. Final substrate ABZ-Val-Lys-Lys-Arg-Ala-Ala-Trp-Tyr(3-NO2)-NH2 displays an excellent kinetic parameter (k cat/K M reaching nearly 1.26 × 108 M-1 × s-1), which is over 10 times greater than previously reported (7.7 × 106 M-1 × s-1) substrate. Moreover, it was found to be selective over West Nile virus protease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Gruba
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | | | - Renata Grzywa
- Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Wysocka
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
| | - Marcin Skoreński
- Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Dabrowska
- Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7A, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Maria Łęcka
- Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Piotr Suder
- AGH University of Science and Technology, Adama Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
| | - Marcin Sieńczyk
- Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Pyrc
- Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
- Jagiellonian University, Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Gronostajowa 7A, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
| | - Adam Lesner
- University of Gdansk, Faculty of Chemistry, Wita Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
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Hill ME, Kumar A, Wells JA, Hobman TC, Julien O, Hardy JA. The Unique Cofactor Region of Zika Virus NS2B-NS3 Protease Facilitates Cleavage of Key Host Proteins. ACS Chem Biol 2018; 13:2398-2405. [PMID: 30080377 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne pathogen capable of severely damaging developing fetuses as well as causing neurological abnormalities in adults. The molecular details of how Zika virus causes pathologies that are unique among the flavivirus family remain poorly understood and have contributed to the lack of Zika antiviral therapies. To elucidate how Zika virus protease (ZVP) affects host cellular pathways and consequent pathologies, we used unbiased N-terminomics to identify 31 human proteins cleaved by the NS2B-NS3 protease. In particular, autophagy-related protein 16-1 (ATG16L1) and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4 gamma 1 (eIF4G1) are dramatically depleted during Zika virus infection. ATG16L1 and eIF4G1 mediate type-II interferon production and host-cell translation, respectively, likely aiding immune system evasion and driving the Zika life cycle. Intriguingly, the NS2B cofactor region from Zika virus protease is essential for recognition of host cell substrates. Replacing the NS2B region in another flavivirus protease enabled recognition of novel Zika-specific substrates by hybrid proteases, suggesting that the cofactor is the principal determinant in ZVP substrate selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen E. Hill
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Anil Kumar
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - James A. Wells
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
| | - Tom C. Hobman
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Olivier Julien
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Jeanne A. Hardy
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
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The Structure of the Zika Virus Protease, NS2B/NS3pro. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2018; 1062:131-145. [DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-8727-1_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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Abrams RPM, Solis J, Nath A. Therapeutic Approaches for Zika Virus Infection of the Nervous System. Neurotherapeutics 2017; 14:1027-1048. [PMID: 28952036 PMCID: PMC5722777 DOI: 10.1007/s13311-017-0575-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Zika virus has spread rapidly in the Americas and has caused devastation of human populations affected in these regions. The virus causes teratogenic effects involving the nervous system, and in adults and children can cause a neuropathy similar to Guillain-Barré syndrome, an anterior myelitis, or, rarely, an encephalitis. While major efforts have been undertaken to control mosquito populations that spread the virus and to develop a vaccine, drug development that directly targets the virus in an infected individual to prevent or treat the neurological manifestations is necessary. Rational and targeted drug development is possible since the viral life cycle and the structure of the key viral proteins are now well understood. While several groups have identified therapeutic candidates, their approaches differ in the types of screening processes and viral assays used. Animal studies are available for only a few compounds. Here we provide an exhaustive review and compare each of the classes of drugs discovered, the methods used for drug discovery, and their potential use in humans for the prevention or treatment of neurological complications of Zika virus infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel P M Abrams
- Section of Infections of the Nervous System, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jamie Solis
- Section of Infections of the Nervous System, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Avindra Nath
- Section of Infections of the Nervous System, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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Saiz JC, Martín-Acebes MA, Bueno-Marí R, Salomón OD, Villamil-Jiménez LC, Heukelbach J, Alencar CH, Armstrong PK, Ortiga-Carvalho TM, Mendez-Otero R, Rosado-de-Castro PH, Pimentel-Coelho PM. Zika Virus: What Have We Learnt Since the Start of the Recent Epidemic? Front Microbiol 2017; 8:1554. [PMID: 28878742 PMCID: PMC5572254 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Zika is a viral disease transmitted mainly by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. In recent years, it has expanded geographically, changing from an endemic mosquito-borne disease across equatorial Asia and Africa, to an epidemic disease causing large outbreaks in several areas of the world. With the recent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks in the Americas, the disease has become a focus of attention of public health agencies and of the international research community, especially due to an association with neurological disorders in adults and to the severe neurological and ophthalmological abnormalities found in fetuses and newborns of mothers exposed to ZIKV during pregnancy. A large number of studies have been published in the last 3 years, revealing the structure of the virus, how it is transmitted and how it affects human cells. Many different animal models have been developed, which recapitulate several features of ZIKV disease and its neurological consequences. Moreover, several vaccine candidates are now in active preclinical development, and three of them have already entered phase I clinical trials. Likewise, many different compounds targeting viral and cellular components are being tested in in vitro and in experimental animal models. This review aims to discuss the current state of this rapidly growing literature from a multidisciplinary perspective, as well as to present an overview of the public health response to Zika and of the perspectives for the prevention and treatment of this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan-Carlos Saiz
- Department of Biotechnology, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y AlimentariaMadrid, Spain
| | - Miguel A. Martín-Acebes
- Department of Biotechnology, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y AlimentariaMadrid, Spain
| | - Rubén Bueno-Marí
- Departamento de Investigación y Desarrollo (I+D), Laboratorios LokímicaValencia, Spain
| | | | | | - Jorg Heukelbach
- Department of Community Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of CearáFortaleza, Brazil
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, TownsvilleQLD, Australia
| | - Carlos H. Alencar
- Department of Community Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of CearáFortaleza, Brazil
| | - Paul K. Armstrong
- Communicable Disease Control Directorate, Western Australia Department of Health, PerthWA, Australia
| | - Tania M. Ortiga-Carvalho
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rosalia Mendez-Otero
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Paulo H. Rosado-de-Castro
- Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Instituto D’Or de Pesquisa e EnsinoRio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Pedro M. Pimentel-Coelho
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Kang C, Keller TH, Luo D. Zika Virus Protease: An Antiviral Drug Target. Trends Microbiol 2017; 25:797-808. [PMID: 28789826 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2017.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2017] [Revised: 06/22/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The recent outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has caused global concern due to its link to severe damage to the brain development of foetuses and neuronal complications in adult patients. A worldwide research effort has been undertaken to identify effective and safe treatment and vaccination options. Among the proposed viral and host components, the viral NS2B-NS3 protease represents an attractive drug target due to its essential role in the virus life cycle. Here, we outline recent progress in studies on the Zika protease. Biochemical, biophysical, and structural studies on different protease constructs provide new insight into the structure and activity of the protease. The unlinked construct displays higher enzymatic activity and better mimics the native state of the enzyme and therefore is better suited for drug discovery. Furthermore, the structure of the free enzyme adopts a closed conformation and a preformed active site. The availability of a lead fragment hit and peptide inhibitors, as well as the attainability of soakable crystals, suggest that the unlinked construct is a promising tool for drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- CongBao Kang
- Experimental Therapeutics Centre, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 31 Biopolis way, Nanos, #03-01, 138669, Singapore.
| | - Thomas H Keller
- Experimental Therapeutics Centre, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 31 Biopolis way, Nanos, #03-01, 138669, Singapore.
| | - Dahai Luo
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, EMB 03-07, 59 Nanyang Drive, 636921, Singapore; NTU Institute of Structural Biology, Nanyang Technological University, EMB 06-01, 59 Nanyang Drive, 636921, Singapore.
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40
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Increased activity of unlinked Zika virus NS2B/NS3 protease compared to linked Zika virus protease. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2017; 492:668-673. [PMID: 28342876 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.03.108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus spread by daytime-active Aedes spp. mosquitoes such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Previously thought to be a mild infection, the latest ZIKV outbreak in the Americas is causally associated with more severe symptoms as well as severe birth defects, such as microcephaly. Currently no vaccine or antiviral exists. However, recent progress has demonstrated the viral NS2B/NS3 protease may be a suitable target for the development of small-molecule antiviral agents. To better understand the ZIKV protease, we expressed, purified, and characterized unlinked and linked NS2B/NS3 protease corresponding to an isolate from the recent outbreak in Puerto Rico. Unlinked ZIKV protease is more active and binds substrate with greater affinity than linked ZIKV protease. Therefore, we propose that unlinked ZIKV protease be used when evaluating or designing ZIKV protease inhibitors. Additionally, potent inhibitors of related viral proteases, like West Nile Virus and Dengue virus, may serve as advanced starting points to identify and develop ZIKV protease inhibitors.
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41
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Ramharack P, Oguntade S, Soliman MES. Delving into Zika virus structural dynamics – a closer look at NS3 helicase loop flexibility and its role in drug discovery. RSC Adv 2017. [DOI: 10.1039/c7ra01376k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
This study demonstrates the structural alterations in the P-loop of ZIKV helicase subsequent to binding of potent inhibitor, NITD008.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pritika Ramharack
- Molecular Modeling and Drug Design Research Group
- School of Health Sciences
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Durban 4001
- South Africa
| | - Sofiat Oguntade
- Molecular Modeling and Drug Design Research Group
- School of Health Sciences
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Durban 4001
- South Africa
| | - Mahmoud E. S. Soliman
- Molecular Modeling and Drug Design Research Group
- School of Health Sciences
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Durban 4001
- South Africa
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42
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Rut W, Zhang L, Kasperkiewicz P, Poreba M, Hilgenfeld R, Drąg M. Extended substrate specificity and first potent irreversible inhibitor/activity-based probe design for Zika virus NS2B-NS3 protease. Antiviral Res 2016; 139:88-94. [PMID: 28034744 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2016.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Revised: 12/19/2016] [Accepted: 12/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus is spread by Aedes mosquitoes and is linked to acute neurological disorders, especially to microcephaly in newborn children and Guillan-Barré Syndrome. The NS2B-NS3 protease of this virus is responsible for polyprotein processing and therefore considered an attractive drug target. In this study, we have used the Hybrid Combinatorial Substrate Library (HyCoSuL) approach to determine the substrate specificity of ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease in the P4-P1 positions using natural and a large spectrum of unnatural amino acids. Obtained data demonstrate a high level of specificity of the S3-S1 subsites, especially for basic amino acids. However, the S4 site exhibits a very broad preference toward natural and unnatural amino acids with selected D-amino acids being favored over L enantiomers. This information was used for the design of a very potent phosphonate inhibitor/activity-based probe of ZIKV NS2B-NS3 protease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wioletta Rut
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Linlin Zhang
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Site, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Paulina Kasperkiewicz
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland; NCI-designated Cancer Center, Sanford-Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Marcin Poreba
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland; NCI-designated Cancer Center, Sanford-Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Rolf Hilgenfeld
- Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Structural and Cell Biology in Medicine, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 Lübeck, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Site, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Marcin Drąg
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
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43
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Skoreński M, Grzywa R, Sieńczyk M. Why should we target viral serine proteases when developing antiviral agents? Future Virol 2016. [DOI: 10.2217/fvl-2016-0106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marcin Skoreński
- Faculty of Chemistry, Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Microbiology, Wroclaw University of Science & Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50–370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Renata Grzywa
- Faculty of Chemistry, Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Microbiology, Wroclaw University of Science & Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50–370 Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Marcin Sieńczyk
- Faculty of Chemistry, Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Microbiology, Wroclaw University of Science & Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50–370 Wroclaw, Poland
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