Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and rapidly spreading infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In some cases, the disease can be fatal which resulted in more than one million deaths worldwide according the WHO. Currently, ther...

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Main Authors: Jihane Akachar, El Mehdi Bouricha, Mohammed Hakmi, Lahcen Belyamani, Rachid El Jaoudi, Azeddine Ibrahimi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-12-01
Series:Heliyon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020325822
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author Jihane Akachar
El Mehdi Bouricha
Mohammed Hakmi
Lahcen Belyamani
Rachid El Jaoudi
Azeddine Ibrahimi
author_facet Jihane Akachar
El Mehdi Bouricha
Mohammed Hakmi
Lahcen Belyamani
Rachid El Jaoudi
Azeddine Ibrahimi
author_sort Jihane Akachar
collection DOAJ
description The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and rapidly spreading infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In some cases, the disease can be fatal which resulted in more than one million deaths worldwide according the WHO. Currently, there is no effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, however many small-molecule inhibitors have shown potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and some of them are now under clinical trials. Despite their promising activities, the development of these small molecules for the clinical use can be limited by many factors like the off-target effect, the poor stability, and the low bioavailability. The clusters of differentiation CD147, CD209, CD299 have been identified as essential entry co-receptors for SARS-CoV-2 species specificity to humans, although the underlying mechanisms are yet to be fully elucidated. In this paper, protein-protein docking was utilized for identifying the critical epitopes in CD147, CD209 and CD299 which are involved in the binding with SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor binding domain (RBD). The results of binding free energies showed a high affinity of SARS-CoV-2 RBD to CD299 receptor which was used as a reference to derive hypothetical peptide sequences with specific binding activities to SARS-CoV-2 RBD. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations of the newly designed peptides showed favorable binding features and stability with SARS-CoV-2 RBD and therefore can be further considered as potential candidates in future anti-SARS CoV-2 drug discovery studies.
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spelling doaj.art-8fd7299cde654aa4ae23675f15cd55942022-12-21T19:38:02ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402020-12-01612e05739Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approachJihane Akachar0El Mehdi Bouricha1Mohammed Hakmi2Lahcen Belyamani3Rachid El Jaoudi4Azeddine Ibrahimi5Medical Biotechnology Laboratory (MedBiotech), Bioinova Research Center, Rabat Medical & Pharmacy School, Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, Morocco; Corresponding author.Medical Biotechnology Laboratory (MedBiotech), Bioinova Research Center, Rabat Medical & Pharmacy School, Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, MoroccoMedical Biotechnology Laboratory (MedBiotech), Bioinova Research Center, Rabat Medical & Pharmacy School, Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, MoroccoEmergency Department, Military Hospital Mohammed V, Rabat Medical & Pharmacy School, Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, MoroccoMedical Biotechnology Laboratory (MedBiotech), Bioinova Research Center, Rabat Medical & Pharmacy School, Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, MoroccoMedical Biotechnology Laboratory (MedBiotech), Bioinova Research Center, Rabat Medical & Pharmacy School, Mohammed Vth University in Rabat, MoroccoThe coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and rapidly spreading infection caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In some cases, the disease can be fatal which resulted in more than one million deaths worldwide according the WHO. Currently, there is no effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, however many small-molecule inhibitors have shown potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 and some of them are now under clinical trials. Despite their promising activities, the development of these small molecules for the clinical use can be limited by many factors like the off-target effect, the poor stability, and the low bioavailability. The clusters of differentiation CD147, CD209, CD299 have been identified as essential entry co-receptors for SARS-CoV-2 species specificity to humans, although the underlying mechanisms are yet to be fully elucidated. In this paper, protein-protein docking was utilized for identifying the critical epitopes in CD147, CD209 and CD299 which are involved in the binding with SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor binding domain (RBD). The results of binding free energies showed a high affinity of SARS-CoV-2 RBD to CD299 receptor which was used as a reference to derive hypothetical peptide sequences with specific binding activities to SARS-CoV-2 RBD. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations of the newly designed peptides showed favorable binding features and stability with SARS-CoV-2 RBD and therefore can be further considered as potential candidates in future anti-SARS CoV-2 drug discovery studies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020325822Coronavirus 19Molecular dockingMolecular dynamicsPeptide-based drugsSpike proteinCluster of differentiation
spellingShingle Jihane Akachar
El Mehdi Bouricha
Mohammed Hakmi
Lahcen Belyamani
Rachid El Jaoudi
Azeddine Ibrahimi
Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach
Heliyon
Coronavirus 19
Molecular docking
Molecular dynamics
Peptide-based drugs
Spike protein
Cluster of differentiation
title Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach
title_full Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach
title_fullStr Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach
title_full_unstemmed Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach
title_short Identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by an in-silico approach
title_sort identifying epitopes for cluster of differentiation and design of new peptides inhibitors against human sars cov 2 spike rbd by an in silico approach
topic Coronavirus 19
Molecular docking
Molecular dynamics
Peptide-based drugs
Spike protein
Cluster of differentiation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020325822
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