Nauris Narvaiss

Mr. Nauris Narvaiss


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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30 November 2021 in Pharmaceuticals
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
RBRaitis Bobrovs
Raitis Bobrovs
IKIveta Kanepe
Iveta Kanepe
NNNauris Narvaiss
Nauris Narvaiss
LPLiene Patetko
Liene Patetko
GKGints Kalnins
Gints Kalnins
Kristaps JaudzemsKristaps Jaudzems
Kristaps Jaudzems
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses mRNA capping to evade the human immune system. The cap formation is performed by the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA cap methyltransferases (MTases) nsp14 and nsp16, which are emerging targets for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral agents. Here, we report results from high-throughput virtual screening against these two enzymes. The docking of seven million commercially available drug-like compounds and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) co-substrate analogues against both MTases resulted in 80 virtual screening hits (39 against nsp14 and 41 against nsp16), which were purchased and tested using an enzymatic homogeneous time-resolved fluorescent energy transfer (HTRF) assay. Nine compounds showed micromolar inhibition activity (IC50 < 200 μM). The selectivity of the identified inhibitors was evaluated by cross-checking their activity against human glycine N-methyltransferase. The majority of the compounds showed poor selectivity for a specific MTase, no cytotoxic effects, and rather poor cell permeability. Nevertheless, the identified compounds represent good starting points that have the potential to be developed into efficient viral MTase inhibitors.