SARS-CoV-2 Nsp3 protease activity and nanobody inhibitor development
As efforts to find effective antivirals to combat the SARS-CoV-2-caused COVID-19 pandemic continue, a new study explores the viral enzyme PLpro, encoded in the nonstructural protein nsp3, and its inhibitors. The study appeared as a preprint on the
bioRxiv server in December 2020.
The Nsp3 Protein
The viral genome encodes 16 non-structural proteins, of which nsp3 is the largest. This is a membrane protein with multiple domains and is essential within the replication-transcription complex formed on the host membranes. It is also a protease, encoding the papain-like protease PLpro that is required for the release of several other non-structural proteins from the polypeptide.