{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T12:11:38Z","timestamp":1789819898304,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679529600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004486","name":"Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["19663"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19663"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004486","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004486","name":"Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["823780"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["823780"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004486","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program","award":["19663"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19663"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program","award":["823780"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["823780"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The main protease (Mpro or 3CLpro) is an enzyme that is evolutionarily conserved among different genera of coronaviruses. As it is essential for processing and maturing viral polyproteins, Mpro has been identified as a promising target for the development of broad-spectrum drugs against coronaviruses. Like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, the mature and active form of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro is a dimer composed of identical subunits, each with a single active site. Individual monomers, however, have very low or no catalytic activity. As such, inhibition of Mpro can be achieved by molecules that target the substrate binding pocket to block catalytic activity or target the dimerization process. In this study, we investigated GC376, a transition-state analog inhibitor of the main protease of feline infectious peritonitis coronavirus, and Nirmatrelvir (NMV), an oral, bioavailable SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitor with pan-human coronavirus antiviral activity. Our results show that both GC376 and NMV are capable of strongly binding to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and altering the monomer-dimer equilibrium by stabilizing the dimeric state. This behavior is proposed to be related to a structured hydrogen-bond network established at the Mpro active site, where hydrogen bonds between Ser1\u2019 and Glu166\/Phe140 are formed in addition to those achieved by the latter residues with GC376 or NMV.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24076062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,24]],"date-time":"2023-03-24T03:50:21Z","timestamp":1679629821000},"page":"6062","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Stabilization of the Dimeric State of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease by GC376 and Nirmatrelvir"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Paciaroni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valeria","family":"Libera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy"},{"name":"Istituto Officina dei Materiali-IOM, National Research Council-CNR, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9505-740X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Ripanti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Orecchini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, 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