The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global health emergency caused by a newly discovered coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The entire scientific community across the globe is working diligently to tackle this unprecedented challenge. In silico studies have played a crucial role in the current situation by expediting the process of identification of novel potential chemotypes targeting the viral receptors. In this study, we have made efforts to identify molecules that can potentially inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M pro) using the high-resolution crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 M pro. The SARS-CoV-2 M pro has a large flexible binding pocket that can accommodate various chemically diverse ligands but a complete occupation of the binding cavity is necessary for efficient inhibition and stability. We augmented glide three-tier molecular docking protocol with water thermodynamics to screen molecules obtained from three different compound libraries. The diverse hits obtained through docking studies were scored against generated WaterMap to enrich the quality of results. Five molecules were selected from each compound library on the basis of scores and protein-ligand complementarity. Further MD simulations on the proposed molecules affirm the stability of these molecules in the complex. MM-GBSA results and intermolecular hydrogen bond analysis also confirm the thermodynamic stability of proposed molecules. This study also presumably steers the structure determination of many ligandmain protease complexes using x-ray diffraction methods.
Dengue fever is a disease which is caused by a family of viruses named Flaviviridae which are transmitted by female Aedes mosquitoes. Today, this is endemic in more than 100 nations in the World Health Organization's African, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Western Pacific locales. The treatment of typical dengue is focused on relieving the symptoms and signs. Carica papaya is a very common plant whose leaf extract is used in the treatment of this disease. Despite extensive research on Dengue, not a single vaccine or anti-viral drug was available until 2016 (a partially effective Chimeric Yellow fever virus treated by DENV-Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine for dengue fever made by Sanofi Pasteur). This review highlights dengue fever’s current situation and explains the importance of Natural chemical moieties like methionine–proline anilides, tetrapeptide aldehyde uncovered via Structure Activity Relationship studies. Also, we have reviewed the drug candidates currently in the clinical trials that have the potential to solve these issues. Important patents in the past 20 years have been outlined in this review. An in depth Protein Data Bank analysis of the different possible target proteins that can potentially have a major role in curing Dengue fever has been conducted.
The advent and spread of novel coronavirus viruses (nCoV), has been presenting the planet with a new public health crisis since December 2019. Several cases of unexplained pneumonia occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, only a month before the Chinese Spring festival. After a diagnosis of broncho-alveolar fluid samples of people from the Wuhan Seafood Market, the new coronavirus was identified using next-generation sequence technology. This work aims to bring out information regarding COVID-19 under a common platform that will help the researchers to identify the vital therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2 and, also it will provide insights into some significant work performed in recent times by scientific communities around the globe. In this review, we have tried to explore multiple aspects related to COVID-19 that includes: Epidemiology, Etiology, COVID-19 variants, Vaccine candidates, Potential therapeutic targets, role of natural products, and computational studies in drug design and development, repurposing, analysis of crystal structures available for COVID-19 related protein structures. Druggable targets include all viral enzymes and proteins involved in viral replication and regulation of host cellular machines. The medical community is tracking several therapies to combat the infection by using various antiviral and immunomodulatory mechanisms. While some vaccines are approved in this world-wide health crisis, a more precise therapy or drug is formally recommended to be used against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Natural products other than synthetic drugs, have been tested by in silico analysis against COVID-19. However, important issues still need to be addressed regarding in vivo bioavailability and better efficacy.
The Coronavirus pandemic has put the entire humanity in total shock and has forced the world to go under total lockdown. It is time for the entire scientific community across the globe to find a solution for this deadly and unseen enemy. In silico studies play a vital role in situations like this, as experimental studies are not feasible by all researchers particularly with relevance to BSL4 procedures. In this study, using the high resolution crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (PDB: 5R82), we have identified molecules which can potentially inhibit the main protease (Mpro). We used a three-tier docking protocol making use of three different databases. We analysed the residues which are lying near the ligand binding pocket of the main protease structure and it shows a wide cavity, which can accommodate chemically diverse ligands, occupying different sub-pockets. Using the small fragment bound in the 5R82, we have identified several larger molecules whose functional groups make interactions with the active site residues covering. This study also presumably steers the structure determination of many ligand-main protease complexes using x- ray diffraction methods. These molecules can be used as ‘in silico leads’ and further be explored in the development of SARS-CoV-2 drugs.
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