3.1 Energetics and ligands-protein interactions
The docking calculations of thirty alkaloid compounds with SARS-CoV-2 protease were carried out by using Autodock virtual screening tool. The results of docking calculations in terms of binding affinity (kcal/mol) and interactions of different orientations of alkaloid compounds in the active site of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease are shown in Table 2. Also gathered in this table are the drug-likeness properties of the ligands.
The binding affinity values of the virtual screening between the 30 selected compounds and the SARS-CoV-2 main protease range from 5.52 to 12.26 kcal/mol. It should be noted that the best candidate against COVID-19 is a compound (a hit molecule) that binds to the target (SARS-CoV-2 main protease) and has the desired effect, in addition to form a stable complex. Thermodynamically, this is a compound with the highest possible binding energy expressed in terms of Gibbs free energy variation (∆G) [9,15]. This allows us to identify in this initial step 22 hits mainly: ligand 2 (7.49 kcal/mol), from ligand 8 (7.88 kcal/mol) to ligand 12 (8.17 kcal/mol), from ligand 14 (9.73 kcal/mol) to ligand 28 (10.70 kcal/mol), and ligand 30 (7.81 kcal/mol). These ligands were retained in comparison of their binding affinity with those reported in this paper of the FDA approved drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction (tadalafil : 8.80 kcal/mol) and human immunodeficiency virus/HIV (lopinavir : 8.19 kcal/mol), as well as in comparison with the binding energy of the reference ligand (8.80 kcal/mol). The best docked compounds (∆G ≤ 8.2 kcal/mol; see also ref. [41] are hits 10 (9.33 kcal/mol), 11 (9.05 kcal/mol), 12 (8.17 kcal/mol), 14 (9.73 kcal/mol), 18 (12.26 kcal/mol), 21 (9.97 kcal/mol), 22 (9.60 kcal/mol), 23 (10.99 kcal/mol), 24 (11.28 kcal/mol), 25 (9.99 kcal/mol), 26 (8.27 kcal/mol), and 28 (10.70 kcal/mol). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first computational study that reports binding energies higher than 10 kcal/mol of ligands bind to one of the pharmacological targets of the SARS-CoV-2. In fact, Olubiyi and coworkers performed high throughput virtual screening of over one million compounds, but only six with the strongest computed affinities ranging from 8.2 to 8.5 kcal/mol were identified [41].
The interactions analysis of the 12 best docked ligands can be summarized as follows:
Other than hydrogen bonding interaction which is the main force among non-covalent interactions stabilizing the complexes [42], ligands 10, 11 and 12 show some similarities in interactions involving their aromatic rings. The presence of four aromatic rings in both compounds offer much possibilities to π-π interactions (stacked and T-shaped) to take place [43]. Other interactions such as π-alkyl interaction with VAL104, π-sigma interaction with ILE106, for all three ligands are established; and amide-π interaction with ASN151 for ligands 10 and 11. Ligands 10 and 12 are stabilized only by one hydrogen bonding interaction with GLN107 (ligand 10) and ARG105 (ligand 11) as the interacting residue of the amino acid. With regards to van der Waals (vdW) interactions as one of the main forces, six vdW interactions (GLN110, ARG 105, SER158, ASP153, ILE 152 and PHE8) occur in ligand 10, supported by two hydrogen bonds with GLN107 and ILE152 as amino acids residues. Six vdW interactions are also take place in ligand 11 with ARG105, SER158, ASP153, PHE8, PHE294 and GLN110 as AA residues, while seven vdW interactions (PHE 8, ILE 152, ASN151, SER158, GLN107, GLN110, TH111 and ASP295) are identified in the complex ligand 12-Mpro.
Ligand 14 is characterized by one H-bonding interaction with GLN110, π-alkyl interaction with ILE249 and eleven vdW interactions with ASN203, THR292, ILE106, THR111, PHE 8, ASP295, ASN151, SER158, VAL104, PHE294 and CYS160. Surprisingly, none H-bonding interaction occurs in the ligand 18, albeit the strongest one with highest binding energy (12.26 kcal/mol). However, this ligand is stabilized by two π-alkyl interactions with MET165, CYS145, π-π interaction with HIS41 and ten vdW interactions with LEU141, GLY143, HIS164, ASP187, TYR54, GLN189, ARG188, THR190, GLN192 and GLU166. This result supports the works from Kasende et al, in which π-π and vdW interactions are primary forces in stabilizing two polyaromatic macromolecules, even when H-bonding interaction occurs [43, 44].
With none H-bonding interaction, except for ligand 22, one can refer to ligand 18 to understand the stability of ligands 21, 22, 23 and 24 with ΔG values between 10-11 kcal/mol. The complex formed between ligand 25 and the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro is stabilized by three hydrogen bonds with GLU166, CYS145, and HIS163 AA residues; a π-alkyl interaction with MET165 and six vdW interactions with interacting residues GLN192, GLN189, GLY143, ASN142, PHE140, and LEU141.
Finally, the complexes wherein ligands 26 and 28 are involved are stabilized by three (with LYS5, GLN127, LYS137 AA residues) and two hydrogen bonds (CYS145 and HIS163 being the AA residue), respectively. The stability of complex with ligand 26 is supported by a π-π interaction with TYR126 and six vdW with CYS128, GLY138, GLU290, SER 139, MET6 and VAL125, whereas the stability of complex with ligand 28 is supported by nine vdW interaction with ALA191, GLN189, THR190, GLN192, HIS164, GLY143, ASN142, PHE 140, LEU141.
3.2 Prediction of pharmacokinetic and toxicity
In the pipeline of computer-aided drug design, after the identification of hit molecules, the next step to deal with is the pre-clinical optimization that concerns the physicochemical properties, mainly the ADME/T prediction. The physicochemical property is an important parameter of a molecule which can be used as a drug and can be predicted by using Lipinski’s rule of five (RO5) that is: molecular mass < 500; Hydrogen-bond donors (HBD) < 5; Hydrogen-bond acceptors (HBA) < 10; and Log P < 5 [45]. Toxicity and pharmacokinetic studies such as absorption, distribution and metabolism of alkaloid compounds were assessed by using the web based application PreADMET (https://preadmet.bmdrc.kr/) and SwissADME database (https://www.swissadme.ch).
The drug-likeness properties accommodated in Lipinski’s rule of five of all ligands were calculated and are listed in Table 2. The results reveal that only ligand 14 does not fully obey the Lipinski’s rule of five criteria, with only 1 violation (MW 549.75 Da > 500 Da). Consequently, the best 12 docked ligands among the 30 investigated alkaloids may emerge as potential major inhibitors of COVID-19 protease.
Turning next to the pharmacokinetic and toxicity properties of eleven potential inhibitors ligands, the results displayed in Table 3 reveal that there are potential drug candidates (Table 3) among the 12 best docked compounds. First of all, the hit molecule to be tested in clinical phase must be non-carcinogenic. The rodent carcinogenicity in rat predicted by the preADMET server reveals that only ligand 22 is carcinogenic. The Ames test that assesses mutagenicity reveals that 7 ligands are no mutagen, in addition of being no-carcinogenic: ligands 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 28. Interestingly, the ligand 18 with highest binding energy is predicted to be no-carcinogenic and no mutagen. The pharmacokinetic evaluation related to inhibition of Cytochrome P450 and substrate of P-glycoprotein shows that ligands 18, 21, 23 and 24 are found to be non-inhibitors of all CYPs. Ligands 10, 11, 12, 22, 25, 26 and 28 inhibit one or two of the cytochromes responsible for drug metabolism (CYP2D6 and CYP3A4), and cannot be presented as potent inhibitors drugs [46]. In the case of the hERG inhibition, all the ligands presented medium risk. Thus, the toxicity prediction shows that the ligands 18, 21, 23 and 24 are safe and represent potential therapeutic candidates against COVID-19.
Table 3 Pharmacokinetics and toxicity properties of the three potential inhibitors.
Ligand
|
Ames-test
|
Carcino-Rat
|
BBB p.
|
hERG
|
P-gp S.
|
1A2
|
2C19
|
2C9
|
2D6
|
3A4
|
10
|
Mutagen
|
Negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
11
|
Mutagen
|
Negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
12
|
Mutagen
|
Negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
18
|
No mutagen
|
Negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
21
|
No mutagen
|
Negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
22
|
Mutagen
|
positive
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
23
|
No mutagen
|
negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
24
|
No mutagen
|
negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
25
|
No mutagen
|
negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
26
|
No mutagen
|
negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
28
|
No mutagen
|
negative
|
Yes
|
Medium risk
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|