Open Access
Open access
Viruses, volume 16, issue 2, pages 215

The Potential of Usnic-Acid-Based Thiazolo-Thiophenes as Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 Viruses

Dmitry S. Baev 1, 2
Anna V Zaykovskaya 4
Mariya K Marenina 1
Yulia Meshkova 1
Dmitriy N. Shcherbakov 1, 4, 5
M. A. Gureev 6
Oleg V Pyankov 4
Nariman F. Salakhutdinov 1
Mikhail Vladimirovich Khvostov 1
Show full list: 15 authors
Publication typeJournal Article
Publication date2024-01-31
Journal: Viruses
scimago Q1
SJR1.140
CiteScore7.3
Impact factor3.8
ISSN19994915
PubMed ID:  38399993
Infectious Diseases
Virology
Abstract

Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 viruses is officially over, the search for new effective agents with activity against a wide range of coronaviruses is still an important task for medical chemists and virologists. We synthesized a series of thiazolo-thiophenes based on (+)- and (−)-usnic acid and studied their ability to inhibit the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. Substances containing unsubstituted thiophene groups or methyl- or bromo-substituted thiophene moieties showed moderate activity. Derivatives containing nitro substituents in the thiophene heterocycle—just as pure (+)- and (−)-usnic acids—showed no anti-3CLpro activity. Kinetic parameters of the most active compound, (+)-3e, were investigated, and molecular modeling of the possible interaction of the new thiazolo-thiophenes with the active site of the main protease was carried out. We evaluated the binding energies of the ligand and protein in a ligand–protein complex. Active compound (+)-3e was found to bind with minimum free energy; the binding of inactive compound (+)-3g is characterized by higher values of minimum free energy; the positioning of pure (+)-usnic acid proved to be unstable and is accompanied by the formation of intermolecular contacts with many amino acids of the catalytic binding site. Thus, the molecular dynamics results were consistent with the experimental data. In an in vitro antiviral assay against six strains (Wuhan, Delta, and four Omicron sublineages) of SARS-CoV-2, (+)-3e demonstrated pronounced antiviral activity against all the strains.

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