Identifying Inhibitors of −1 Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting in a Broad Spectrum of Coronaviruses
Identifying Inhibitors of −1 Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting in a Broad Spectrum of Coronaviruses
Loading...
Files
Publication or External Link
Date
2022-01-18
Authors
Munshi, Sneha
Neupane, Krishna
Ileperuma, Sandaru M.
Halma, Matthew T. J.
Kelly, Jamie A.
Halpern, Clarissa F.
Dinman, Jonathan D.
Loerch, Sarah
Woodside, Michael T.
Advisor
Citation
Munshi, S.; Neupane, K.; Ileperuma, S.M.; Halma, M.T.J.; Kelly, J.A.; Halpern, C.F.; Dinman, J.D.; Loerch, S.; Woodside, M.T. Identifying Inhibitors of −1 Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting in a Broad Spectrum of Coronaviruses. Viruses 2022, 14, 177.
Abstract
Recurrent outbreaks of novel zoonotic coronavirus (CoV) diseases in recent years have highlighted the importance of developing therapeutics with broad-spectrum activity against CoVs. Because all CoVs use −1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting (−1 PRF) to control expression of key viral proteins, the frameshift signal in viral mRNA that stimulates −1 PRF provides a promising potential target for such therapeutics. To test the viability of this strategy, we explored whether small-molecule inhibitors of −1 PRF in SARS-CoV-2 also inhibited −1 PRF in a range of bat CoVs—the most likely source of future zoonoses. Six inhibitors identified in new and previous screens against SARS-CoV-2 were evaluated against the frameshift signals from a panel of representative bat CoVs as well as MERS-CoV. Some drugs had strong activity against subsets of these CoV-derived frameshift signals, while having limited to no effect on −1 PRF caused by frameshift signals from other viruses used as negative controls. Notably, the serine protease inhibitor nafamostat suppressed −1 PRF significantly for multiple CoV-derived frameshift signals. These results suggest it is possible to find small-molecule ligands that inhibit −1 PRF specifically in a broad spectrum of CoVs, establishing frameshift signals as a viable target for developing pan-coronaviral therapeutics.