1
|
Mellott DM, Tseng CT, Drelich A, Fajtová P, Chenna BC, Kostomiris DH, Hsu J, Zhu J, Taylor ZW, Tat V, Katzfuss A, Li L, Giardini MA, Skinner D, Hirata K, Beck S, Carlin AF, Clark AE, Beretta L, Maneval D, Frueh F, Hurst BL, Wang H, Kocurek KI, Raushel FM, O’Donoghue AJ, de Siqueira-Neto JL, Meek TD, McKerrow JH. A cysteine protease inhibitor blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection of human and monkey cells. bioRxiv 2020:2020.10.23.347534. [PMID: 33140046 PMCID: PMC7605553 DOI: 10.1101/2020.10.23.347534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
K777 is a di-peptide analog that contains an electrophilic vinyl-sulfone moiety and is a potent, covalent inactivator of cathepsins. Vero E6, HeLa/ACE2, Caco-2, A549/ACE2, and Calu-3, cells were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, and then treated with K777. K777 reduced viral infectivity with EC50 values of inhibition of viral infection of: 74 nM for Vero E6, <80 nM for A549/ACE2, and 4 nM for HeLa/ACE2 cells. In contrast, Calu-3 and Caco-2 cells had EC50 values in the low micromolar range. No toxicity of K777 was observed for any of the host cells at 10-100 μM inhibitor. K777 did not inhibit activity of the papain-like cysteine protease and 3CL cysteine protease, encoded by SARS-CoV-2 at concentrations of ≤ 100 μM. These results suggested that K777 exerts its potent anti-viral activity by inactivation of mammalian cysteine proteases which are essential to viral infectivity. Using a propargyl derivative of K777 as an activity-based probe, K777 selectively targeted cathepsin B and cathepsin L in Vero E6 cells. However only cathepsin L cleaved the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and K777 blocked this proteolysis. The site of spike protein cleavage by cathepsin L was in the S1 domain of SARS-CoV-2 , differing from the cleavage site observed in the SARS CoV-1 spike protein. These data support the hypothesis that the antiviral activity of K777 is mediated through inhibition of the activity of host cathepsin L and subsequent loss of viral spike protein processing.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Drake M. Mellott
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Chien-Te Tseng
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas, Medical Branch, 3000 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas, 77755-1001
| | - Aleksandra Drelich
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas, Medical Branch, 3000 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas, 77755-1001
| | - Pavla Fajtová
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 16610 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Bala C. Chenna
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Demetrios H. Kostomiris
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Jason Hsu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas, Medical Branch, 3000 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas, 77755-1001
| | - Jiyun Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Zane W. Taylor
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
- Current address: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, WA 99353
| | - Vivian Tat
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas, Medical Branch, 3000 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas, 77755-1001
| | - Ardala Katzfuss
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Linfeng Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Miriam A. Giardini
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | - Danielle Skinner
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | - Ken Hirata
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | - Sungjun Beck
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | - Aaron F. Carlin
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Alex E. Clark
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | - Laura Beretta
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | - Daniel Maneval
- Selva Therapeutics, Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, 5600 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322
| | - Felix Frueh
- Selva Therapeutics, Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, 5600 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322
| | - Brett L. Hurst
- Institute for Antiviral Research, Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, 5600 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322
| | - Hong Wang
- Institute for Antiviral Research, Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, 5600 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322
| | - Klaudia I. Kocurek
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Frank M. Raushel
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Anthony J. O’Donoghue
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| | | | - Thomas D. Meek
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Drive, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - James H. McKerrow
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
| |
Collapse
|