Cross-species transmission of viruses from wildlife animal reservoirs poses a marked threat to human and animal health . Bats have been recognized as one of the most important reservoirs for emerging viruses and the transmission of a coronavirus that originated in bats to humans via intermediate hosts was responsible for the high-impact emerging zoonosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) . Here we provide virological, epidemiological, evolutionary and experimental evidence that a novel HKU2-related bat coronavirus, swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV), is the aetiological agent that was responsible for a large-scale outbreak of fatal disease in pigs in China that has caused the death of 24,693 piglets across four farms. Notably, the outbreak began in Guangdong province in the vicinity of the origin of the SARS pandemic. Furthermore, we identified SADS-related CoVs with 96-98% sequence identity in 9.8% (58 out of 591) of anal swabs collected from bats in Guangdong province during 2013-2016, predominantly in horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus spp.) that are known reservoirs of SARS-related CoVs. We found that there were striking similarities between the SADS and SARS outbreaks in geographical, temporal, ecological and aetiological settings. This study highlights the importance of identifying coronavirus diversity and distribution in bats to mitigate future outbreaks that could threaten livestock, public health and economic growth.

In spite of its importance in cell function, targeting DNA is under-represented in the design of small molecules. A barrier to progress in this area is the lack of a variety of modules that recognize G•C base pairs (bp) in DNA sequences. To overcome this barrier an entirely new design concept for modules that can bind to mixed GC and AT sequences of DNA is reported. Because of their successes in biological applications, minor-groove-binding heterocyclic cations were selected as the platform for design. Binding to AT sequences requires H-bond donors while recognition of the G-NH2 requires an acceptor. The concept that we report here uses preorganized N-methylbenzimidazole (N-MeBI) thiophene modules for selective binding with mixed bp DNA sequences. The interaction between the thiophene sigma-hole (positive electrostatic potential) and electron donor nitrogen of N-MeBI preorganizes the conformation for accepting an H-bond from G-NH2. The compound-DNA interactions were evaluated with a powerful array of biophysical methods and the results show that N-MeBI-thiophene monomer compounds can strongly and selectively recognize single G•C bp sequences. Replacing the thiophene with other moieties significantly reduces binding affinity and specificity, as predicted by the design concept. These results show that the use of molecular features, such as sigma-hole, can lead to new approaches for small molecules in biomolecular interactions.

AT specific heterocyclic cations that bind in the DNA duplex minor groove have had major successes as cell and nuclear stains and as therapeutic agents which can effectively enter human cells. Expanding the DNA sequence recognition capability of the minor groove compounds could also expand their therapeutic targets and have an impact in many areas, such as modulation of transcription factor biological activity. Success in the design of mixed sequence binding compounds has been achieved with N-methylbenzimidazole (N-MeBI) thiophenes which are preorganized to fit the shape of the DNA minor groove and H-bond to the –NH of G·C base pairs that projects into the minor groove. Initial compounds bind strongly to a single G·C base pair in an AT context with a specificity ratio of 50 (KD AT-GC/KD AT) or less and this is somewhat low for biological use. We felt that modifications of compound shape could be used to probe local DNA microstructure in target mixed base pair sequences of DNA and potentially improve the compound binding selectivity. Modifications were made by increasing the size of the benzimidazole N-substituent, for example, by using N-isobutyl instead of N-Me, and by changing the molecular twist by introducing substitutions at specific positions on the aromatic core of the compounds. In both cases, we have been able to achieve a dramatic increase in binding specificity, including no detectible binding to pure AT sequences, without a significant loss in affinity to mixed base pair target sequences.

To probe the importance of the heterocyclic core of estrogen receptor (ER) ligands, we prepared a series of thiophene-core ligands by Suzuki cross-coupling of aryl boronic acids with bromo-thiophenes, and we assessed their receptor binding and cell biological activities. The disposition of the phenol substituents on the thiophene core, at alternate or adjacent sites, and the nature of substituents on these phenols all contribute to binding affinity and subtype selectivity. Most of the bis(hydroxyphenyl)-thiophenes were ERβ selective, whereas the tris(hydroxyphenyl)-thiophenes were ERα selective; analogous furan-core compounds generally have lower affinity and less selectivity. Some diarylthiophenes show distinct superagonist activity in reporter gene assays, giving maximal activities 2–3 times that of estradiol, and modeling suggests that these ligands have a different interaction with a hydrogen-bonding residue in helix-11. Ligand-core modification may be a new strategy for developing ER ligands whose selectivity is based on having transcriptional activity greater than that of estradiol.

To develop estrogen receptor (ER) ligands having novel structures and activities, we have explored compounds in which the central hydrophobic core has a more three-dimensional topology than typically found in estrogen ligands and thus exploit the unfilled space in the ligand-binding pocket. Here, we build upon our previous investigations of 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene core ligands, by replacing the oxygen bridge with a sulfoxide. These new 7-thiabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene-7-oxides were conveniently prepared by a Diels-Alder reaction of 3,4-diarylthiophenes with dienophiles in the presence of an oxidant and give cycloadducts with endo stereochemistry. Several new compounds demonstrated high binding affinities with excellent ERα selectivity, but unlike oxabicyclic compounds, which are transcriptional antagonists, most thiabicyclic compounds are potent, ERα-selective agonists. Modeling suggests that the gain in activity of the thiabicyclic compounds arises from their endo stereochemistry that stabilizes an active ER conformation. Further, the disposition of methyl substituents in the phenyl groups attached to the bicyclic core unit contribute to their binding affinity and subtype selectivity.