Drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 could have saved millions of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is now crucial to develop inhibitors of coronavirus replication in preparation for future outbreaks. We explored two virtual screening strategies to find inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease in ultralarge chemical libraries. First, structure-based docking was used to screen a diverse library of 235 million virtual compounds against the active site. One hundred top-ranked compounds were tested in binding and enzymatic assays. Second, a fragment discovered by crystallographic screening was optimized guided by docking of millions of elaborated molecules and experimental testing of 93 compounds. Three inhibitors were identified in the first library screen, and five of the selected fragment elaborations showed inhibitory effects. Crystal structures of target–inhibitor complexes confirmed docking predictions and guided hit-to-lead optimization, resulting in a noncovalent main protease inhibitor with nanomolar affinity, a promising in vitro pharmacokinetic profile, and broad-spectrum antiviral effect in infected cells.

Sensitive detection of protein interactions and post-translational modifications of native proteins is a challenge for research and diagnostic purposes. A method for this, which could be used in point-of-care devices and high-throughput screening, should be reliable, cost effective and robust. To achieve this, here we design a method (proxHCR) that combines the need for proximal binding with hybridization chain reaction (HCR) for signal amplification. When two oligonucleotide hairpins conjugated to antibodies bind in close proximity, they can be activated to reveal an initiator sequence. This starts a chain reaction of hybridization events between a pair of fluorophore-labelled oligonucleotide hairpins, generating a fluorescent product. In conclusion, we show the applicability of the proxHCR method for the detection of protein interactions and posttranslational modifications in microscopy and flow cytometry. As no enzymes are needed, proxHCR may be an inexpensive and robust alternative to proximity ligation assays.

BioMAX is the first macromolecular crystallography beamline at the MAX IV Laboratory 3 GeV storage ring, which is the first operational multi-bend achromat storage ring. Due to the low-emittance storage ring, BioMAX has a parallel, high-intensity X-ray beam, even when focused down to 20 µm × 5 µm using the bendable focusing mirrors. The beam is tunable in the energy range 5–25 keV using the in-vacuum undulator and the horizontally deflecting double-crystal monochromator. BioMAX is equipped with an MD3 diffractometer, an ISARA high-capacity sample changer and an EIGER 16M hybrid pixel detector. Data collection at BioMAX is controlled using the newly developed MXCuBE3 graphical user interface, and sample tracking is handled by ISPyB. The computing infrastructure includes data storage and processing both at MAX IV and the Lund University supercomputing center LUNARC. With state-of-the-art instrumentation, a high degree of automation, a user-friendly control system interface and remote operation, BioMAX provides an excellent facility for most macromolecular crystallography experiments. Serial crystallography using either a high-viscosity extruder injector or the MD3 as a fixed-target scanner is already implemented. The serial crystallography activities at MAX IV Laboratory will be further developed at the microfocus beamline MicroMAX, when it comes into operation in 2022. MicroMAX will have a 1 µm × 1 µm beam focus and a flux up to 1015 photons s−1 with main applications in serial crystallography, room-temperature structure determinations and time-resolved experiments.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19), emerged at the end of 2019 and quickly spread to cause a global pandemic with severe socio-economic consequences. The early sequencing of its RNA genome revealed its high similarity to SARS, likely to have originated from bats. The SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 10 (nsp10) displays high sequence similarity with its SARS homologue, which binds to and stimulates the 3′-to-5′ exoribonuclease and the 2′-O-methlytransferase activities of nsps 14 and 16, respectively. Here, we report the biophysical characterization and 1.6 Å resolution structure of the unbound form of nsp10 from SARS-CoV-2 and compare it to the structures of its SARS homologue and the complex-bound form with nsp16 from SARS-CoV-2. The crystal structure and solution behaviour of nsp10 will not only form the basis for understanding the role of SARS-CoV-2 nsp10 as a central player of the viral RNA capping apparatus, but will also serve as a basis for the development of inhibitors of nsp10, interfering with crucial functions of the replication–transcription complex and virus replication.