Identification of promising antiviral drug candidates against non-structural protein 15 (NSP15) from SARS-CoV-2: an <i>in silico</i> assisted drug-repurposing study
Rameez Jabeer Khan, Rajat Kumar Jha, Ekampreet Singh, Monika Jain, Gizachew Muluneh Amera, Rashmi Prabha Singh, Jayaraman Muthukumaran, Amit Kumar Singh
Abstract
), the orientation of drug molecules in the active site and the key interacting residues of NSP15. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed for the screened drug candidates in complex with NSP15 as well as the apo form of NSP15 to mimic their physiological states. Based on the stable MD simulation trajectories, the binding free energies of the screened NSP15-drug complexes were calculated using the MM/PBSA approach. Two candidate drugs, Simeprevir and Paritaprevir, achieved the lowest binding free energies for NSP15, with a value of -259.522 ± 17.579 and -154.051 ± 33.628 kJ/mol, respectively. In addition, their complexes with NSP15 also exhibited the strongest structural stabilities. Taken together, we propose that Simeprevir and Paritaprevir are promising drug candidates to inhibit NSP15 and may act as potential therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.