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The viral 3-chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease (3CLpro also known as Main Protease/ Mpro) controls coronavirus replication and is essential for its life cycle. This enzyme acts at no less than 11 cleavage sites on the large polyprotein 1ab (about 790 kDa) to generate various non-structural proteins that are important for viral replication [1]. Since this protein plays a critical role for the assembly and propagation of the virus, it is a promising target to develop therapeutic agents that can block its catalytic activity [2].
[1] K. Anand, J. Ziebuhr, P. Wadhwani, et al. Coronavirus main proteinase (3CLpro) structure: basis for design of anti-SARS drugs Science, 300 (2003), pp. 1763-1767.
[2] Prediction of the SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV) 3C-like protease (3CLpro) structure: virtual screening reveals velpatasvir, ledipasvir, and other drug repurposing candidates (2020).
Crossrefe DOI link: https://doi.org/10.12688/F1000RESEARCH.22457.2