Structure-Based Design of Covalent SARS-CoV-2 Papain-like Protease Inhibitors.

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a highly transmissible and pathogenic RNA betacoronavirus. Like other RNA viruses, SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve with or without drug selection pressure, and many variants have emerged since the beginning of the pandemic. The papain-like protease, PL, is a cysteine protease that cleaves viral polyproteins as well as ubiquitin and ISG15 modifications from host proteins. Leveraging our recently discovered Val70 binding site in PL, we designed covalent PL inhibitors by connecting cysteine reactive warheads to the biarylphenyl PL inhibitors via flexible linkers. Several leads displayed potent enzymatic inhibition (IC = 0.1-0.3 μM) and antiviral activity (EC = 0.09-0.96 μM). Fumaramide inhibitors , , and showed favorable pharmacokinetic properties with intraperitoneal injection. The X-ray crystal structure of PL with validated our design strategy, revealing covalent conjugation between the catalytic Cys111 and the fumaramide warhead. The results suggest these covalent PL inhibitors are promising SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drug candidates.