Aptamers targeting SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein exhibit potential ant1ip1 an-coronavirus activity

Emerging and recurrent infectious diseases caused by human coronaviruses(HCoVs)continue to pose a significant threat to global public health security.In light of this ongoing threat,the development of a broad-spectrum drug to combat HCoVs is an urgently priority.Herein,we report a series of anti-pan-coronavirus ssDNA aptamers screened using Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment(SELEX).These aptamers have nanomolar affinity with the nucleocapsid protein(NP)of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)and also show excellent binding efficiency to the N proteins of both SARS,MERS,HCoV-OC43 and-NL63 with affinity KD values of 1.31 to 135.36 nM.Such aptamer-based therapeutics exhibited potent antiviral activity against both the authentic SARS-CoV-2 prototype strain and the Omicron variant(BA.5)with EC50 values at 2.00 nM and 41.08 nM,respectively.The protein docking analysis also evidenced that these aptamers exhibit strong affinities for N proteins of pan-coronavirus and other HCoVs(−229E and-HKU1).In conclusion,we have identified six aptamers with a high pan-coronavirus antiviral activity,which could potentially serve as an effective strategy for preventing infections by unknown coronaviruses and addressing the ongoing global health threat.

Facile Synthesis of Novel Perfluorocarbon-Modulated 4-Anilinoquinazoline Analogues

4-Anilinoquinazoline analogues stand out among many kinds of small molecules that inhibit the tyrosine kinase activities of epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR）, thus serving as significant molecular targets for anticancer drug design. Herein, a series of novel perfluorocarbon （PFC） modulated 4-anilinoquinazolines were designed and prepared straightforwardly by nucleophilic substitution reaction of various anilinoquinazolines and PFC-derived methanesulfonate. In the presence of base, the reaction proceeded smoothly to afford a wide range of 4-anilino- quinazolines with different substituents on aniline moiety in good to high yields. Furthermore, the PFC-modified analogues of gefitinib and erlotinib were also obtained in 93% and 90% respectively, which may have potential for developing new inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR） tyrosine kinase and fluorinated contrast agents （CA） for 19F MRI.