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Vinyl Sulfone-Based Inhibitors of Nonstructural Protein 2 Block the Replication of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis
Huaisheng Zhang1, Moeshia Harmon1, Sheli R Radoshitzky2
1Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Atmospheric Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi 39217-0095, United States.
Abstract:
Emerging infectious diseases like those caused by arboviruses such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) pose a serious threat to public health systems. Development of medical countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases are of utmost importance. In this work, an acrylate and vinyl sulfone-based chemical series was investigated as promising starting scaffolds against VEEV and as inhibitors of the cysteine protease domain of VEEV's nonstructural protein 2 (nsP2). Primary screen and dose response studies were performed to evaluate the potency and cytotoxicity of the compounds. The results provide structural insights into a new class of potent nonpeptidic covalent inhibitors of nsP2 cysteine protease represented by compound 11 (VEEV TrD, EC50 = 2.4 μM (HeLa), 1.6 μM (Vero E6)). These results may facilitate the evolution of the compounds into selective and broad-spectrum anti-alphaviral drug leads.
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