tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
iScience
. 2025 May 16;28(6):112687.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112687. eCollection 2025 Jun 20. A combinatorial and computational Tandem approach towards a universal therapeutics against ACE2-mediated coronavirus infections
Chia Yin Lee[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ching-Wen Huang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Louis De Falco Jr[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Rabiatul Adawiyah Minhat[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Aurélien Traversier[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Bei Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Siti Nazihah Mohd Salleh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eve Zi Xian Ngoh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuling Huang[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jenna Kim[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Matthew Zirui Tay[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Manuel Rosa-Calatrava[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Andrés Pizzorno[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Roland G Huber[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Cheng-I Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor plays a pivotal role in the infection of several coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. We combined computational and experimental protein engineering approaches to develop ACE2-YHA, a soluble, high-affinity ACE2 decoy with pan-coronavirus preventive and therapeutic potential. Leveraging native human ACE2-SARS-CoV/SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) complex homology models, we employed in silico site-saturation mutagenesis to predict key ACE2-RBD interacting residues. Subsequent generation of ACE2 mutants and high-throughput screening identified specific ACE2 residue substitutions that enhanced binding to both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 RBDs. The triple mutant ACE2-YHA demonstrated significantly enhanced binding affinity to SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and bat SARSr-CoVs' RBDs. It effectively neutralized SARS-CoV and numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants with picomolar IC50s in pseudotyped virus assays. Notably, ACE2-YHA displayed potent neutralization against major variants of concern, including Delta and Omicron, in human airway epithelia, positioning it as a promising universal decoy for current and future ACE2-binding coronavirus outbreaks.
Keywords: Biochemistry; Biological sciences; Microbiology; Natural sciences; Virology.
. 2025 May 16;28(6):112687.
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112687. eCollection 2025 Jun 20. A combinatorial and computational Tandem approach towards a universal therapeutics against ACE2-mediated coronavirus infections
Chia Yin Lee[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ching-Wen Huang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Louis De Falco Jr[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Rabiatul Adawiyah Minhat[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Aurélien Traversier[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Bei Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Siti Nazihah Mohd Salleh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eve Zi Xian Ngoh[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuling Huang[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jenna Kim[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Matthew Zirui Tay[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Manuel Rosa-Calatrava[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Andrés Pizzorno[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP], Roland G Huber[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Cheng-I Wang[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40520104
- PMCID: PMC12164199
- DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112687
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor plays a pivotal role in the infection of several coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. We combined computational and experimental protein engineering approaches to develop ACE2-YHA, a soluble, high-affinity ACE2 decoy with pan-coronavirus preventive and therapeutic potential. Leveraging native human ACE2-SARS-CoV/SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) complex homology models, we employed in silico site-saturation mutagenesis to predict key ACE2-RBD interacting residues. Subsequent generation of ACE2 mutants and high-throughput screening identified specific ACE2 residue substitutions that enhanced binding to both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 RBDs. The triple mutant ACE2-YHA demonstrated significantly enhanced binding affinity to SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and bat SARSr-CoVs' RBDs. It effectively neutralized SARS-CoV and numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants with picomolar IC50s in pseudotyped virus assays. Notably, ACE2-YHA displayed potent neutralization against major variants of concern, including Delta and Omicron, in human airway epithelia, positioning it as a promising universal decoy for current and future ACE2-binding coronavirus outbreaks.
Keywords: Biochemistry; Biological sciences; Microbiology; Natural sciences; Virology.