Designing of improved drugs for COVID-19: Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease Mpro
Hylemariam Mihiretie Mengist, Xiaojiao Fan, Tengchuan Jin · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · 2020
Recently, Zhang and colleagues published a study in Science which reports about the crystal structure of the main protease (M pro , 3CL pro ) of SARS-CoV-2 1 . The authors reported the X-ray structure of unliganded SARS-CoV-2 M pro and its complex with α-ketoamide inhibitor after a modification from the previously designed inhibitor through incorporating P3-P2 amide bond into pyridone ring so as to increase its half-life in plasma. Finally the authors demonstrated that the crystal structure of M pro provides a basis for designing of a potent inhibitor to the protease with a marked tropism to the lung and with ease of administration through inhalation .