Small-Molecule Thioesters as SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors: Enzyme Inhibition, Structure–Activity Relationships, Antiviral Activity, and X-ray Structure Determination
Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar, Philipp Flury, Nadine Krüger, Haixia Su, Laura Schäkel, Elany Barbosa da Silva, Olga Eppler, Thales Kronenberger, Tianqing Nie, Stephanie Luedtke, Cheila Rocha, Katharina Sylvester, Marvin Petry, James H. McKerrow, Antti Poso, Stefan Pöhlmann, Michael Gütschow, Anthony J. O’Donoghue, Yechun Xu, Christa E. Müller, Stefan Laufer
Abstract
The main protease (Mpro, 3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is an attractive target in coronaviruses because of its crucial involvement in viral replication and transcription. Here, we report on the design, synthesis, and structure–activity relationships of novel small-molecule thioesters as SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors. Compounds 3w and 3x exhibited excellent SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibition with kinac/Ki of 58,700 M–1 s–1 (Ki = 0.0141 μM) and 27,200 M–1 s–1 (Ki = 0.0332 μM), respectively. In Calu-3 and Vero76 cells, compounds 3h, 3i, 3l, 3r, 3v, 3w, and 3x displayed antiviral activity in the nanomolar range without host cell toxicity. Co-crystallization of 3w and 3af with SARS-CoV-2 Mpro was accomplished, and the X-ray structures showed covalent binding with the catalytic Cys145 residue of the protease. The potent SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors also inhibited the Mpro of other beta-coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, indicating that they might be useful to treat a broader range of coronaviral infections.