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Potent 3CLpro inhibitors effective against SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV in animal models by therapeutic treatment
Chang, Kyeong-Ok Perlman, Stanley Groutas, William C Lovell, Scott Johnson, David K Meyerholz, David K Nguyen, Harry Nhat Dampalla, Chamandi S Kim, Yunjeong Li, Pengfei
Chang, Kyeong-Ok
Perlman, Stanley
Groutas, William C
Lovell, Scott
Johnson, David K
Meyerholz, David K
Nguyen, Harry Nhat
Dampalla, Chamandi S
Kim, Yunjeong
Li, Pengfei
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) are zoonotic betacoronaviruses that continue to have a significant impact on public health. Timely development and introduction of vaccines and antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 into the clinic have substantially mitigated the burden of COVID-19. However, a limited or lacking therapeutic arsenal for SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV infections, respectively, calls for an expanded and diversified portfolio of antivirals against these coronavirus infections. In this report, we examined the efficacy of two potent 3CLpro inhibitors, and , in fatal animal models of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV to demonstrate their broad-spectrum activity against both viral infections. These compounds significantly increased the survival of mice in both models when treatment started 1 day post infection compared to no treatment which led to 100% fatality. Especially, the treatment with compound resulted in 80% and 90% survival in SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV-infected mice, respectively. Amelioration of lung viral load and histopathological changes in treated mice correlated well with improved survival in both infection models. Furthermore, compound exhibited significant antiviral activities in K18-hACE2 mice infected with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16. The results suggest that these are promising candidates for further development as broad-spectrum direct-acting antivirals against highly virulent human coronaviruses.IMPORTANCEHuman coronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) continue to have a significant impact on public health. A limited or lacking therapeutic arsenal for SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV infections calls for an expanded and diversified portfolio of antivirals against these coronavirus infections. We have previously reported a series of small-molecule 3C-like protease (3CLpro) inhibitors against human coronaviruses. In this report, we demonstrated the efficacy of 3CLpro inhibitors for their broad-spectrum activity against both SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV infections using the fatal animal models. The results suggest that these are promising candidates for further development as broad-spectrum direct-acting antivirals against highly virulent human coronaviruses.
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2024-12-21
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mBio
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Keywords
protease inhibitors
Citation
Li P, Kim Y, Dampalla CS, Nhat Nguyen H, Meyerholz DK, Johnson DK, Lovell S, Groutas WC, Perlman S, Chang K-O. Potent 3CLpro inhibitors effective against SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV in animal models by therapeutic treatment. mBio. 2024 Feb 14;15(2):e0287823. doi: 10.1128/mbio.02878-23. Epub 2023 Dec 21. PMID: 38126789; PMCID: PMC10865860