Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

In Silico Exploration of Bisphosphonate Scaffolds as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp for COVID-19 and PASC

Version 1 : Received: 25 November 2023 / Approved: 27 November 2023 / Online: 27 November 2023 (16:52:17 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 27 December 2023 / Approved: 28 December 2023 / Online: 28 December 2023 (13:51:47 CET)
Version 3 : Received: 23 February 2024 / Approved: 26 February 2024 / Online: 26 February 2024 (13:51:28 CET)

How to cite: Mohammed, M.-U.-R.; Chougule, K. S.; Ala, C.; Kuthe, P. V.; Garg, M.; Sankaranarayanan, M.; Vasan, S. S. In Silico Exploration of Bisphosphonate Scaffolds as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp for COVID-19 and PASC. Preprints 2023, 2023111727. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.1727.v1 Mohammed, M.-U.-R.; Chougule, K. S.; Ala, C.; Kuthe, P. V.; Garg, M.; Sankaranarayanan, M.; Vasan, S. S. In Silico Exploration of Bisphosphonate Scaffolds as Potential Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp for COVID-19 and PASC. Preprints 2023, 2023111727. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202311.1727.v1

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in over 720 million confirmed cases and 7 million deaths worldwide, with insufficient treatment options. Innumerable efforts are being made around the world for faster identification of therapeutic agents to treat the deadly disease. Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 (PASC), also called Long COVID, is still being understood and lacks treatment options as well. A growing list of drugs are being suggested by various in silico, in vitro and ex vivo models, however currently only two treatment options are widely used: the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) inhibitor remdesivir, and the main protease (MPro) inhibitor nirmatrelvir in combination with ritonavir. Computational drug development tools and in silico studies involving molecular docking, molecular dynamics, entropy calculations and pharmacokinetics can be useful to identify new targets to treat COVID-19 and PASC, as shown in this paper. We have investigated bisphosphonates which can bind competitively to nidovirus RdRp-associated nucleotidyl (NiRAN) transferase domain, and systematically downselected three candidates (CHEMBL196676, CHEMBL164344, and CHEMBL4291724) that show sufficient in silico promise to warrant further investigation in in vitro and ex vivo models.

Keywords

Bisphosphonates; Long COVID; MM-GBSA; Molecular docking; Molecular dynamics; RdRp; SARS-CoV-2; Virtual screening

Subject

Chemistry and Materials Science, Medicinal Chemistry

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