Benzimidazole compound abrogates SARS-COV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)/ACE2 interaction In vitro

The development of clinically actionable pharmaceuticals against coronavirus disease (COVID-19); an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is very important for ending the pandemic. Coronavirus spike glycoprotein (GP)-Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) and its interaction with host receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is one of the most structurally understood but therapeutically untapped aspect of COVID-19 pathogenesis. Binding interface based on previous x-ray structure of RBD/ACE2 were virtually screened to identify fragments with high-binding score from 12,000 chemical building blocks. The hit compound was subjected to fingerprint-based similarity search to identify compounds within the FDA-approved drug library containing the same core scaffold. Identified compounds were then re-docked into of RBD/ACE2. The best ranked compound was validated for RBD/ACE2 inhibition using commercial kit. Molecular dynamics simulation was conducted to provide further insight into the mechanism of inhibition. From the original 12000 chemical building blocks, benzimidazole (BAZ) scaffold was identified. Fingerprint-based similarity search of the FDA-approved drug library for BAZ-containing compounds identified 12 drugs with the benzimidazole-like substructure. When these compounds were re-docked into GP/ACE2 interface, the consensus docking identified bazedoxifene as the hit. In vitro RBD/ACE2 inhibition kinetics showed micromolar IC50 value (1.237 μM) in the presence of bazedoxifene. Molecular dynamics simulation of RBD/ACE2 in the presence BAZ resulted in loss of contact and specific hydrogen-bond interaction required for RBD/ACE2 stability. Taken together, these findings identified benzimidazole scaffold as a building block for developing novel RBD/ACE2 complex inhibitor and provided mechanistic basis for the use of bazedoxifene as a repurposable drug for the treatment of COVID-19 acting at RBD/ACE2 interface.