Finding potent inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 main protease through virtual screening, ADMET, and molecular dynamics simulation studies

Currently, no antiviral drug or vaccine is available to treat COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. This underscores an urgent need for developing a drug against SARS-CoV-2. The main protease (3CLpro) of SARS-CoV-2 is considered an essential protein for maintaining the viral life cycle and, therefore, a potential target for drug development. In a recent study, 1000 potential ligands were identified for 3CLpro by screening 1.3 billion compounds from the ZINC15 library. In the current study, we have further screened these 1000 compounds using structure-based virtual screening utilizing the Schrödinger suite and identified nine compounds having a docking score of ∼ -11.0 kcal/mol or less. The top 5 hits display good pharmacological profiles revealing better absorption, proper permeability across the membrane, uniform distribution, and non-toxic. The molecular docking study is further complemented by molecular dynamics simulations of the top 5 docked complexes. The binding free energy analyses via the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM/GBSA) scheme reveals that ZINC000452260308 is the most potent (ΔGbind = -14.31 kcal/mol) inhibitor. The intermolecular van der Waals interactions mainly drive the 3CLpro-ligand association. This new compound may have great potential as a lead molecule to develop a new antiviral drug to fight against COVID-19.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.