Computation screening and molecular docking of FDA approved viral protease inhibitors as a potential drug against COVID-19

This study demonstrated potent inhibitors against COVID-19 using the molecular docking approach of FDA approved viral antiprotease drugs.

COVID-19 has now spread throughout world. There is a serious need to find potential therapeutic agents. The 3C-like protease (Mpro/6LU7) is an attractive molecular target for rational anti-CoV drugs

The tertiary structure of COVID-19 Mpro was obtained from a protein data bank repository, and molecular docking screening was performed by Molegro Virtual Docker, ver. 6, with a grid resolution of 0.30 Å. Docking scores (DOS) are representative of calculated ligand-receptor (protein) interaction energy; therefore, more negative scores mean better binding tendency. Another docking study was then applied on each of the selected drugs with the best ligands separately and using a more accurate RMSD algorithm. Results The docking of COVID-19 major protease (6LU7) with 17 selected drugs resulted in four FDA approved viral antiprotease drugs (Temoporfin, Simeprevir, Cobicistat, Ritonavir) showing the best docking scores. Among these 4 compounds, Temoporfin exhibited the best DOS (-202.88) and the best screened ligand with COVID-19 Mpro, followed by Simeprevir (-201.66), Cobicistat (- 187.75), and Ritonavir (-186.66). As the best screened ligand, Temoporfin could target the Mpro with 20 different conformations, while Simeprevir, Cobicistat, and Ritonavir make 14, 10, and 10 potential conformations at the binding site, respectively.

The findings showed that the four selected FDA approved drugs can be potent inhibitors against COVID-19; among them, Temoporfin may be more potent for the treatment of the disease. Based on the findings, it is recommended that in-vitro and invivo evaluations be conducted to determine the effectiveness of these drugs against COVID-19.