Application of Acoustic Ejection MS System to High-Throughput Screening for SARS-CoV-2 3CL Protease Inhibitors
Tsukasa Hasegawa, Riyo Imamura, Tateki Suzuki, Takao Hashiguchi, Takao Nomura, Satoko Otsuguro, Katsumi Maenaka, Michihito Sasaki, Yasuko Orba, Hirofumi Sawa, Akihiko Sato, Takayoshi Okabe, Tetsuo Nagano, Hirotatsu Kojima · Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin · 2021
MS is a powerful methodology for chemical screening to directly quantify substrates and products of enzymes, but its low throughput has been an issue. Recently, an acoustic liquid-handling apparatus (Echo®) used for rapid nano-dispensing has been coupled to a high-sensitivity mass spectrometer to create the Echo® MS system, and we applied this system to screening of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 3CL protease inhibitors. Primary screening of 32033 chemical samples was completed in 12 h. Among the hits showing selective, dose-dependent 3CL-inhibitory activity, 8 compounds showed antiviral activity in cell-based assay.