Enhancing Virtual Screening Efficiency in the Discovery of Human TMPRSS2 Inhibitor for Combating COVID-19

As the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose a health and economic crisis worldwide, the quest for drugs and/or vaccines against the virus continues. The human transmembrase protease serines 2 (TMPRSS2) has attracted attention as a target for drug discovery, as inhibition of its catalytic reaction would results in the inactivation of the proteolytic cleavage of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein. As a result, the inactivation prevents viral cell entry to the host’s cell. In this work, we screened and identified two potent molecules that interact and inhibit the catalytic reaction by using computational approaches. Two docking screening experiments were performed utilizing the crystal structure and holo ensemble structure obtained from molecular dynamics in bound form. There is enhancement and sensitivity of docking results to the holo ensemble as compared to the crystal structure. Compound 1 binds more stable than nafamostat by interacting with catalytic triad residue His296 and Ser441, thereby disrupting the already establish hydrogen bond interaction. The stability of the ligand-TMPRSS2 complexes was studied by molecular dynamics simulation, and the binding energy was re-scored by using MM-PBSA binding free energy. The obtained compounds may serve as initial point towards the discovery of potent TMPRSS2 inhibitors upon further in vivo validation.