Drug Functional Site-Unknown Molecular Targets Exemplified by SARS-CoV-2 pseudoknot and ribosomal frameshifting-modulators
TL;DR
This framework establishes a generalizable strategy for rationally targeting structured RNAs with repurposed drugs and offers new opportunities to expand the druggable genome to include noncoding RNA elements and other biomolecular targets lacking known functional sites.
Abstract
The –1 Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting (–1 PRF) signal of SARS-CoV-2, driven by a conserved three-stemmed RNA pseudoknot (PK), is indispensable for viral replication and represents a structurally stable yet underexplored therapeutic target. Unlike rapidly mutating viral proteins, this RNA element offers an opportunity for durable intervention but has historically been considered “undruggable”. We developed an integrative drug discovery and characterization pipeline that combines molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and dual-luciferase assays to systematically identify and validate frameshifting–efficiency (Feff) modulators from FDA–approved compounds. To move beyond traditional similarity-based screening, we introduced a contact–distribution–matching method, which ranks candidate compounds by comparing their predicted RNA interaction fingerprints with those of reference modulators. This computational approach, paired with experimental validation, enabled us to expand the repertoire of Feff modulators and establish correlations between binding patterns and functional outcomes. To uncover the underlying mechanisms, we applied steered molecular dynamics simulations and single-molecule optical tweezers measurements, revealing that Feff-enhancing modulators preferentially stabilize the remote stem (stem 3) of the PK, promoting variety of intermediate force species with the beginning base pairs of stem 1 being refolded, even after those base pairs have been unwound by ribosome. The refold of the tips of the stem 1 in turn “push back” the ribosome on the slippery sequence to result in enhanced frameshifting. On the other hand, Feff-suppressing modulators rigidify early stem regions, increasing resistance to ribosomal progression and increase the drop-off rate, eventually leading to a reduced –1 frame to 0 frame ratio in translation. Together, these findings provide the first integrated demonstration of how small molecules can modulate –1 PRF by altering RNA PK folding dynamics. More broadly, our framework establishes a generalizable strategy for rationally targeting structured RNAs with repurposed drugs and offers new opportunities to expand the druggable genome to include noncoding RNA elements and other biomolecular targets lacking known functional sites.