Computer-aided drug design for virtual-screening and active-predicting of main protease (Mpro) inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus with highly contagious and has posed a significant threat to global public health. The main protease (Mpro) is a promising target for antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2.Methods: In this study, we have used pharmacophore-based drug design technology to identify potential compounds from drug databases as Mpro inhibitors.Results: The procedure involves pharmacophore modeling, validation, and pharmacophore-based virtual screening, which identifies 257 compounds with promising inhibitory activity.Discussion: Molecular docking and non-bonding interactions between the targeted protein Mpro and compounds showed that ENA482732 was the best compound. These results provided a theoretical foundation for future studies of Mpro inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2.