Molecular Modeling Evaluation of the Binding Abilities of Ritonavir and Lopinavir to Wuhan Pneumonia Coronavirus Proteases

Lin, S.; Shen, R.; Guo, X.

doi:10.1101/2020.01.31.929695

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.01.31.929695

Molecular Modeling Evaluation of the Binding Abilities of Ritonavir and Lopinavir to Wuhan Pneumonia Coronavirus Proteases

Lin, S.·Shen, R.·Guo, X.

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Abstract

Three anti-HIV drugs, ritonavir, lopinavir and darunavir, might have therapeutic effect on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, the structure models of two severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proteases, coronavirus endopeptidase C30 (CEP_C30) and papain like viral protease (PLVP), were built by homology modeling. Ritonavir, lopinavir and darunavir were then docked to the models, respectively, followed by energy minimization of the protease-drug complexes. In the simulations, ritonavir can bind to CEP_C30 most suitably, and induce significant conformation changes of CEP_C30; lopinavir can also bind to CEP_C30 suitably, and induce significant conformation changes of CEP_C30; darunavir can bind to PLVP suitably with slight conformation changes of PLVP. It is suggested that the therapeutic effect of ritonavir and lopinavir on COVID-19 may be mainly due to their inhibitory effect on CEP_C30, while ritonavir may have stronger efficacy; the inhibitory effect of darunavir on SARS-CoV-2 and its potential therapeutic effect may be mainly due to its inhibitory effect on PLVP.

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Lin, S., Shen, R., Guo, X.. 2020-02-03. Molecular Modeling Evaluation of the Binding Abilities of Ritonavir and Lopinavir to Wuhan Pneumonia Coronavirus Proteases. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.31.929695

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