Discovery of C-12 dithiocarbamate andrographolide analogues as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease: In vitro and in silico studies

A global crisis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has impacted millions of people’s lives throughout the world. In parallel to vaccine development, identifying potential antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2 has become an urgent need to combat COVID-19. One of the most attractive drug targets for discovering anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents is the main protease (M(pro)), which plays a pivotal role in the viral life cycle. This study aimed to elucidate a series of twenty-one 12-dithiocarbamate-14-deoxyandrographolide analogues as SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) inhibitors using in vitro and in silico studies. These compounds were initially screened for the inhibitory activity toward SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) by in vitro enzyme-based assay. We found that compounds 3k, 3l, 3m and 3t showed promising inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) with >50% inhibition at 10 μM. Afterward, the binding mode of each compound in the active site of SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) was explored by molecular docking. The optimum docked complexes were then chosen and subjected to molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The MD results suggested that all studied complexes were stable along the simulation time, and most of the compounds could fit well with the SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) active site, particularly at S1, S2 and S4 subsites. The per-residue decomposition free energy calculations indicated that the hot-spot residues essential for ligand binding were T25, H41, C44, S46, M49, C145, H163, M165, E166, L167, D187, R188, Q189 and T190. Therefore, the obtained information from the combined experimental and computational techniques could lead to further optimization of more specific and potent andrographolide analogues toward SARS-CoV-2 M(pro).