Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study

Background: Currently, an increase in the number of new cases of Covid-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV-2) is recorded in Ukraine and the world. SARS-CoV-2 provokes exacerbation of chronic diseases and activates inflammatory and allergic reactions. A severe course o...

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Main Authors: Н. В. Хміль, А. В. Шестопалова, В. Г. Колесніков, А. О. Боєчко-Немовча
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University 2024-08-01
Series:Біофізичний вісник
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Online Access:https://periodicals.karazin.ua/biophysvisnyk/article/view/22796
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author Н. В. Хміль
А. В. Шестопалова
В. Г. Колесніков
А. О. Боєчко-Немовча
author_facet Н. В. Хміль
А. В. Шестопалова
В. Г. Колесніков
А. О. Боєчко-Немовча
author_sort Н. В. Хміль
collection DOAJ
description Background: Currently, an increase in the number of new cases of Covid-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV-2) is recorded in Ukraine and the world. SARS-CoV-2 provokes exacerbation of chronic diseases and activates inflammatory and allergic reactions. A severe course of Covid-19 increases the duration of hospitalization and the mortality rate among the population. Pathogenetic therapy is carried out with systemic corticosteroids, which suppress the cytokine storm by mitigating the SARS-CoV-2-induced systemic inflammatory response and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro, a key component of viral replication. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the potential corticosteroid binding sites on SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro based on the analysis of the energetic and topological characteristics of the complexes as well as to investigate the inhibitory activity of selected corticosteroids against Mpro. Material and Methods: The crystal structure of Mpro (ID: 6LU7 from Protein Data Bank) (www.rcsb.org) was chosen as a docking target. Molecular docking methods (AutoDock Tools 1.5.7, AutoDock Vina 1.1.2) were used to gain insight into the binding affinity Mpro with systemic corticosteroids such as dexamethasone (DEX), prednisone (PRED), prednisolone (PNL), methylprednisolone (Medrol), triamcinolone (TAC), and hydrocortisone (HCT). Visualization of docking results was done in PyMol 2.5. The protein-ligand interaction profiler (PLIP) and the LigPlot+ web tool were used to identify non-covalent interactions between Mpro and ligands (https://plip-tool.biotec.tu-dresden.de). Results: In silico docking study demonstrated that all selected corticosteroids bound with amino acid residues of II and III domains of Mpro with binding energy in the range -7.8…-6.6 kcal/mol. The high binding affinity is found for dexamethasone-Mpro (-7.8 kcal/mol); for prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, triamcinolone, and hydrocortisone the binding energies were -7.4, -7.0, -7.5, -7.6 and -6.6 kcal/mol, respectively. It was shown that hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions were involved in the formation of ligand-protein complexes mainly through residues such as Arg131, Lys137, Thr199, Asp289, Leu272, Leu286, Leu287, Tyr239, and Gly275, which formed the catalytic and distal sites for ligand binding. The inhibition constant of corticosteroids has ranged from 1.90 × 10-6 to 14.4 × 10-6 M. Conclusion: Our results showed that the favorable binding sites for dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone are located in the catalytic site of domain II and the distal site of domain III of SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro with high binding affinities confirming the stability of the complexes. The low inhibition constants values for dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone further confirm the effectiveness of the selected corticosteroids as inhibitors of Mpro activity. Based on the binding energy as well as inhibition constants values dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone were identified as potential inhibitors for Mpro.
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spelling doaj-art-ea770a68a2f14f46b6d3937fe7381d3c2025-01-06T15:24:52ZengV.N. Karazin Kharkiv National UniversityБіофізичний вісник2075-38102075-38292024-08-0151536310.26565/2075-3810-2024-51-0422796Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking studyН. В. Хміль0А. В. Шестопалова1В. Г. Колесніков2А. О. Боєчко-Немовча3Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, 14 Nauky Ave., Kharkiv, 61166, Ukraine; O. Ya. Usikov Institute for Radiophysics and Electronics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 12 Acad. Proskura str., Kharkiv, 61085, UkraineO. Ya. Usikov Institute for Radiophysics and Electronics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 12 Acad. Proskura str., Kharkiv, 61085, UkraineO. Ya. Usikov Institute for Radiophysics and Electronics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 12 Acad. Proskura str., Kharkiv, 61085, UkraineKharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, 14 Nauky Ave., Kharkiv, 61166, UkraineBackground: Currently, an increase in the number of new cases of Covid-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV-2) is recorded in Ukraine and the world. SARS-CoV-2 provokes exacerbation of chronic diseases and activates inflammatory and allergic reactions. A severe course of Covid-19 increases the duration of hospitalization and the mortality rate among the population. Pathogenetic therapy is carried out with systemic corticosteroids, which suppress the cytokine storm by mitigating the SARS-CoV-2-induced systemic inflammatory response and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro, a key component of viral replication. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the potential corticosteroid binding sites on SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro based on the analysis of the energetic and topological characteristics of the complexes as well as to investigate the inhibitory activity of selected corticosteroids against Mpro. Material and Methods: The crystal structure of Mpro (ID: 6LU7 from Protein Data Bank) (www.rcsb.org) was chosen as a docking target. Molecular docking methods (AutoDock Tools 1.5.7, AutoDock Vina 1.1.2) were used to gain insight into the binding affinity Mpro with systemic corticosteroids such as dexamethasone (DEX), prednisone (PRED), prednisolone (PNL), methylprednisolone (Medrol), triamcinolone (TAC), and hydrocortisone (HCT). Visualization of docking results was done in PyMol 2.5. The protein-ligand interaction profiler (PLIP) and the LigPlot+ web tool were used to identify non-covalent interactions between Mpro and ligands (https://plip-tool.biotec.tu-dresden.de). Results: In silico docking study demonstrated that all selected corticosteroids bound with amino acid residues of II and III domains of Mpro with binding energy in the range -7.8…-6.6 kcal/mol. The high binding affinity is found for dexamethasone-Mpro (-7.8 kcal/mol); for prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, triamcinolone, and hydrocortisone the binding energies were -7.4, -7.0, -7.5, -7.6 and -6.6 kcal/mol, respectively. It was shown that hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions were involved in the formation of ligand-protein complexes mainly through residues such as Arg131, Lys137, Thr199, Asp289, Leu272, Leu286, Leu287, Tyr239, and Gly275, which formed the catalytic and distal sites for ligand binding. The inhibition constant of corticosteroids has ranged from 1.90 × 10-6 to 14.4 × 10-6 M. Conclusion: Our results showed that the favorable binding sites for dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone are located in the catalytic site of domain II and the distal site of domain III of SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro with high binding affinities confirming the stability of the complexes. The low inhibition constants values for dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone further confirm the effectiveness of the selected corticosteroids as inhibitors of Mpro activity. Based on the binding energy as well as inhibition constants values dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisolone, and triamcinolone were identified as potential inhibitors for Mpro.https://periodicals.karazin.ua/biophysvisnyk/article/view/22796covid-19sars cov-2 main protease mprosystemic corticosteroidsmolecular dockinghuman health
spellingShingle Н. В. Хміль
А. В. Шестопалова
В. Г. Колесніков
А. О. Боєчко-Немовча
Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study
Біофізичний вісник
covid-19
sars cov-2 main protease mpro
systemic corticosteroids
molecular docking
human health
title Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study
title_full Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study
title_fullStr Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study
title_full_unstemmed Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study
title_short Identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the SARS CoV-2 main protease Mpro — in silico docking study
title_sort identification of potential corticosteroid binding sites on the sars cov 2 main protease mpro in silico docking study
topic covid-19
sars cov-2 main protease mpro
systemic corticosteroids
molecular docking
human health
url https://periodicals.karazin.ua/biophysvisnyk/article/view/22796
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AT vgkolesníkov identificationofpotentialcorticosteroidbindingsitesonthesarscov2mainproteasemproinsilicodockingstudy
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