3C-like protease


The 3C-like protease, formally known as C30 Endopeptidase, is the main protease found in coronaviruses. It cleaves the coronavirus polyprotein at eleven conserved sites. It is a cysteine protease and a member of the PA clan of proteases. It has a cysteine-histidine catalytic dyad at its active site and cleaves a Gln– peptide bond.
The Enzyme Commission refers to this family as SARS coronavirus main proteinase. The 3CL protease corresponds to coronavirus nonstructural protein 5. The "3C" in the common name refers to the 3C protease which is a homologous protease found in picornaviruses.

Function

The 3C-like protease is able to catalytically cleave a peptide bond between a glutamine at position P1 and a small amino acid at position P1'. The SARS coronavirus 3CLpro can for instance self-cleave the following peptides:
The protease is important in the processing of the coronavirus replicase polyprotein. It is the main protease in coronaviruses and corresponds to nonstructural protein 5. It cleaves the coronavirus polyprotein at 11 conserved sites. The 3CL protease has a cysteine-histidine catalytic dyad at its active site. The sulfur of the cysteine acts as a nucleophile and the imidazole ring of the histidine as a general base.

Nomenclature

Alternative names provided by the EC include 3CLpro, 3C-like protease, coronavirus 3C-like protease, Mpro, SARS 3C-like protease, SARS coronavirus 3CL protease, SARS coronavirus main peptidase, SARS coronavirus main protease, SARS-CoV 3CLpro enzyme, SARS-CoV main protease, SARS-CoV Mpro and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus main protease.

As a treatment target

The protease 3CLpro is a potential drug target for coronavirus infections due to its essential role in processing the polyproteins that are translated from the viral RNA. The X-ray structures of the unliganded SARS-CoV-2 protease 3CLpro and its complex with an α-ketoamide inhibitor provides a basis for design of α-ketoamide inhibitors for a treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Potential protease inhibitors being developed against 3CLpro and homologous 3Cpro include CLpro-1, GC376, Rupintrivir, chemical 11a, and chemical 11b.

Other 3C(-like) proteases

3C-like proteases are widely found in ssRNA viruses. All of them are cysteine proteases with a chymotrypsin-like fold, using a catalytic dyad or triad. They share some general similarities on substrate specificity and inhibitor effectiveness. They are divided into subfamilies by sequence similarity, corresponding to the family of viruses they are found in:
Additional members are known from Potyviridae and non-Coronaviridae Nidovirales.