Identification of saquinavir as a potent inhibitor of dimeric SARS-CoV2 main protease through MM/GBSA

Among targets selected for studies aimed at identifying potential inhibitors against COVID-19, SARS-CoV2 main proteinase (M(pro)) is highlighted. M(pro) is indispensable for virus replication and is a promising target of potential inhibitors of COVID-19. Recently, monomeric SARS-CoV2 M(pro), drug repurposing, and docking methods have facilitated the identification of several potential inhibitors. Results were refined through the assessment of dimeric SARS-CoV2 M(pro), which represents the functional state of enzyme. Docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations combined with molecular mechanics/generalized Born surface area (MM/GBSA) studies indicated that dimeric M(pro) most significantly impacts binding affinity tendency compared with the monomeric state, which suggests that dimeric state is most useful when performing studies aimed at identifying drugs targeting M(pro). In this study, we extend previous research by performing docking and MD simulation studies coupled with an MM/GBSA approach to assess binding of dimeric SARS-CoV2 M(pro) to 12 FDA-approved drugs (darunavir, indinavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, diosmin, hesperidin, rutin, raltegravir, velpatasvir, ledipasvir, rosuvastatin, and bortezomib), which were identified as the best candidates for the treatment of COVID-19 in some previous dockings studies involving monomeric SARS-CoV2 M(pro). This analysis identified saquinavir as a potent inhibitor of dimeric SARS-CoV2 M(pro); therefore, the compound may have clinical utility against COVID-19. [Figure: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00894-020-04600-4.