Pharmacophore-Based Discovery of Viral RNA Conformational Modulators

New RNA-binding small-molecule scaffolds are needed to unleash the pharmacological potential of RNA targets. Here we have applied a pharmacophore-based virtual screening approach, seldom used in the RNA recognition field, to identify novel conformational inhibitors of the hepatitis C virus internal...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martín Villamil, María, Sanmartín Santos, Isaias Salvador, Moreno, Ángela, Gallego Sala, José
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
Repositorio:RIUCV. Repositorio de la Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:riucv.ucv.es:20.500.12466/7180
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12466/7180
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Bulge
Drug
Hepatitis C virus
IRES
Junction
Pharmacophore
RNA
32 Ciencias Médicas
Descripción
Sumario:New RNA-binding small-molecule scaffolds are needed to unleash the pharmacological potential of RNA targets. Here we have applied a pharmacophore-based virtual screening approach, seldom used in the RNA recognition field, to identify novel conformational inhibitors of the hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site. The conformational effect of the screening hits was assessed with a fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay, and the affinity, specificity, and binding site of the ligands were determined using a combination of fluorescence intensity and NMR spectroscopy experiments. The results indicate that this strategy can be successfully applied to discover RNA conformational inhibitors bearing substantially less positive charge than the reference ligands. This methodology can potentially be accommodated to other RNA motifs of pharmacological interest, facilitating the discovery of novel RNA-targeted molecules.