Advances in developing small molecule SARS 3CLpro inhibitors as potential remedy for corona virus infection

Manashjyoti Konwar; Diganta Sarma

doi:10.1016/j.tet.2020.131761

Advances in developing small molecule SARS 3CL^pro inhibitors as potential remedy for corona virus infection

Tetrahedron. 2021 Jan 1:77:131761. doi: 10.1016/j.tet.2020.131761. Epub 2020 Nov 19.

Authors

Manashjyoti Konwar^{1

2}, Diganta Sarma¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, 786004, Assam, India.
² Department of Chemistry, Dibru College, Dibrugarh, 786003, Assam, India.

Abstract

Originated in China, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)- the highly contagious and fatal respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 has already infected more than 29 million people worldwide with a mortality rate of 3.15% (according to World Health Organization's (WHO's) report, September 2020) and the number is exponentially increasing with no remedy whatsoever discovered till date. But it is not the first time this infectious viral disease has appeared, in 2002 SARS-CoV infected more than 8000 individuals of which 9.6% patients died and in 2012 approximately 35% of MERS-CoV infected patients have died. Literature reports indicate that a chymotripsin-like cystein protease (3CL^pro) is responsible for the replication of the virus inside the host cell. Therefore, design and synthesis of 3CL^pro inhibitor molecules play a great impact in drug development against this COVID-19 pandemic. In this review, we are discussing the anti-SARS effect of some small molecule 3CL^pro inhibitors with their various binding modes of interactions to the target protein.

Keywords: 3CLpro; Inhibitors; SARS-CoV; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Review