Discovery of Potent Anilide Inhibitors against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 3CL Protease

A diversified library of peptide anilides was prepared, and their inhibition activities against the SARS-CoV 3CL protease were examined by a fluorogenic tetradecapeptide substrate. The most potent inhibitor is an anilide derived from 2-chloro-4-nitroaniline, l-phenylalanine and 4-(dimethylamino)benzoic acid. This anilide is a competitive inhibitor of the SARS-CoV 3CL protease with K(i) = 0.03 muM. The molecular docking experiment indicates that the P1 residue of this anilide inhibitor is distant from the nucleophilic SH of Cys145 in the active site.