title: Synthesis and activity of an octapeptide inhibitor designed for SARS coronavirus main proteinase.
abstract: The outbreak of SARS, a life-threatening disease, has spread over many countries around the world. So far there is no effective drug for the treatment of SARS. Stimulated by the binding mechanism of SARS-CoV Mpro with the octapeptide AVLQSGFR reported recently as well as the "Chou's distorted key" theory, we synthesized the octapeptide AVLQSGFR for conducting various biochemical experiments to investigate the antiviral potential of the octapeptide against SARS coronavirus (BJ-01). The results demonstrate that, compared with other compounds reported so far, AVLQSGFR is the most active in inhibiting replication of the SARS coronavirus, and that no detectable toxicity is observed on Vero cells under the condition of experimental concentration.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering & Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. lifescience@san.rr.com
authors.forename: Yi-Ru
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yong-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chun-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jin-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Dong-Qing
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D000086782:Coronavirus 3C Proteases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D014709:Vero Cells; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009842:Oligopeptides; D014764:Viral Proteins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D000086782:Coronavirus 3C Proteases