Targeting the Receptor-Binding Motif of SARS-CoV-2 with D-Peptides Mimicking the ACE2 Binding Helix: Lessons for Inhibiting Omicron and Future Variants of Concern

J Chem Inf Model. 2022 Aug 8;62(15):3618-3626. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00500. Epub 2022 Jul 24.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, with several new variants emerging, particularly those of concern (VOCs). Omicron (B.1.1.529), a recent VOC with many mutations in the spike protein's receptor-binding domain (RBD), has attracted a great deal of scientific and public interest. We previously developed two D-peptide inhibitors for the infection of the original SARS-CoV-2 and its VOCs, alpha and beta, in vitro. Here, we demonstrated that Covid3 and Covid_extended_1 maintained their high-affinity binding (29.4-31.3 nM) to the omicron RBD. Both D-peptides blocked the omicron variant in vitro infection with IC50s of 3.13 and 5.56 μM, respectively. We predicted that Covid3 shares a larger overlapping binding region with the ACE2 binding motif than different classes of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. We envisioned the design of D-peptide inhibitors targeting the receptor-binding motif as the most promising approach for inhibiting current and future VOCs of SARS-CoV-2, given that the ACE2 binding interface is more limited to tolerate mutations than most of the RBD's surface.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
  • COVID-19 Drug Treatment*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Peptides / pharmacology
  • SARS-CoV-2*
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus

Substances

  • Peptides
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
  • spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2

Supplementary concepts

  • SARS-CoV-2 variants