Using serpins cysteine protease cross-specificity to possibly trap SARS-CoV-2 Mpro with reactive center loop chimera.

ABSTRACT: Human serine protease inhibitors (serpins) are the main inhibitors of serine proteases, but some of them also have the capability to effectively inhibit cysteine proteases. Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease (Mpro) is a chymotrypsin-type cysteine protease that is needed to produce functional proteins essential for virus replication and transcription. Serpin traps its target proteases by presenting a reactive center loop (RCL) as protease-specific cleavage site, resulting in protease inactivation. Mpro target sites with its active site serine and other flanking residues can possibly interact with serpins. Alternatively, RCL cleavage site of serpins with known evidence of inhibition of cysteine proteases can be replaced by Mpro target site to make chim

SUBMITTER: Jairajpuri MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7463295 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature