Coronavirus Main Protease
Coronavirus proteases are attractive targets for the design of antiviral drugs
PDB Structure 6LU7 was the first structure related to COVID-19 that was made available in the PDB archive.This image shows the SARS-CoV-2 main protease protein with inhibitor N3 (white stick representation) covalently bound to residue cysteine 145 in the protease active site. Display shows secondary structure (helices in magenta, strands in cyan, loops in yellow). Adjacent active site residue histidine 41 is also shown.
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In 2003, the SARS virus emerged in China from bat populations, moving to civets and finally to humans. This image highlights the similarity of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (PDB structure 6LU7) and the SARS Coronavirus Main Protease (PDB structure 1Q2W, in green).
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Main protease (PDB structure 6LU7) shown in a surface representation, with the two halves of the dimer in yellow and blue.
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