Article
作者: Cole, Andrew G ; Blaesse, Michael ; Sofia, Michael J ; Tercero, Breanna ; Weiss, Susan R. ; Vega, Marvin ; Weiss, Susan R ; Cole, Andrew G. ; Kultgen, Steven G ; von König, Konstanze ; Gotchev, Dimitar ; Bracci, Nicole ; Konz Makino, Debora L ; Chen, Chia-Yi ; Kultgen, Steven G. ; McGovern-Gooch, Kayleigh R ; Bergmann, Andreas ; Maskos, Klaus ; McGovern-Gooch, Kayleigh R. ; Kowalski, Rose ; Prasad, Archna ; Micolochick Steuer, Holly M ; Konz Makino, Debora L. ; Wasserman, Adam ; Chen, Chia-yi ; Fan, Kristi Y. ; Wang, Xiaohe ; Cuconati, Andrea ; Fan, Kristi Y ; Micolochick Steuer, Holly M. ; Sofia, Michael J. ; Sheraz, Muhammad ; Lindstrom, Aaron ; Mani, Nagraj ; Lam, Angela M. ; Wang, Xu ; Lam, Angela M ; Nguyen, Duyan ; Ardzinski, Andrzej
Since the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, there have been ongoing efforts to identify antiviral molecules with broad coronavirus activity to combat COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2's main protease (Mpro) is responsible for processing the viral polypeptide into non-structural proteins essential for replication. Here, we present the biological characterization of AB-343, a covalent small-molecule inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro with potent activity in both cell-based (EC50 = 0.018 μM) and enzymatic (Ki = 0.0028 μM) assays. AB-343 also demonstrated excellent inhibition of Mpro of other human coronaviruses, including those from the alpha (229E and NL63) and beta (SARS-CoV, MERS, OC43, and HKU1) families, suggesting the compound could be active against future coronaviruses. No change in AB-343 potency was observed against Mpro of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including Omicron, suggesting that AB-343 could be developed as a treatment against currently circulating coronaviruses. AB-343 also remained active against several Mpro variants which confer significant resistance to nirmatrelvir and ensitrelvir, which are presently the only Mpro inhibitors authorized for the treatment of COVID-19, further supporting the evaluation of AB-343 as a novel and potent therapeutic for COVID-19 and other coronaviruses.