Computational search for drug repurposing to identify potential inhibitors against SARS-COV-2 using Molecular Docking, QTAIM and IQA methods in viral Spike protein – Human ACE2 interface

Faria, Sergio H.D.M.; Teleschi, João G.

With the advancement of the Covid-19 pandemic, this work aims to find molecules that can inhibit the attraction between the Spike proteins of the SARS-COV-2 virus and human ACE2. The results of molecular docking positioned four molecules at the interaction site Tyr-491(Spike)-Glu-37(ACE2) and one at the site Gly-488(Spike)-Lys-353(ACE2). The QTAIM and IQA data showed that the 1629 molecule had a significant inhibitory effect on the Gly488-Ly353 site, decreasing the Laplacian of the electronic density of the BCP O4-N10. The molecule 2542 showed an inhibitory effect in two regions of interaction of the Tyr491-Glu37 site, acting on the BCPs H30-H33 and O8-H31 while the ligand 2600, in conformation 26, presented a similar effect only on the BCP O8-H31 of that same interactive site. Thus, the data suggest laboratory tests of a combination of molecules that can act at two sites of interaction simultaneously, using the combination of 1629/2542 and 1629/2600 ligands.