Individual and common inhibitors of coronavirus and picornavirus main proteases

Picornaviruses (PV) and coronaviruses (CoV) are positive-stranded RNA viruses which infect millions of people worldwide each year, resulting in a wide range of clinical outcomes. As reported in this study, using high throughput screening against similar to 6800 small molecules, we have identified several novel inhibitors of SARS-CoV 3CL(pro) with IC50 of low mu M. Interestingly, one of them equally inhibited both 3C(pro) and 3CL(pro) from PV and CoV, respectively. Using computer modeling, the structural features of these compounds as individual and common protease inhibitors were elucidated to enhance our knowledge for developing anti-viral agents against PV and CoV. (c) 2009 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.