Evaluation of Xa inhibitors as potential inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease

Based on previous large-scale in silico screening several factor Xa inhibitors were proposed to potentially inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. In addition to their known anticoagulants activity this potential inhibition could have an additional therapeutic effect on patients with COVID-19 disease. In this study we examined the binding of the Apixaban, Betrixaban and Rivaroxaban to the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro with the use of the MicroScale Thermophoresis technique. Our results indicate that the experimentally measured binding affinity is weak and the therapeutic effect due to the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibition is rather negligible.

Investigation of Thiocarbamates as Potential Inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro

In the present study we tested, using the microscale thermophoresis technique, a small library of thionocarbamates, thiolocarbamates, sulfide and disulfide as potential lead compounds for SARS-CoV-2 Mpro drug design. The successfully identified binder is a representative of the thionocarbamates group with a high potential for future modifications aiming for higher affinity and solubility. The experimental analysis was extended by computational studies that show insufficient accuracy of the simplest and widely applied approaches and underline the necessity of applying more advanced methods to properly evaluate the affinity of potential SARS-CoV-2 Mpro binders.