Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation

Plant diseases caused by vegetable viruses are an important threat to global food security, presenting a major challenge for the development of antiviral agrochemicals. Functional proteins of plant viruses play a crucial role in the viral life cycle, and targeted inhibition of these proteins has eme...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaoyi Wang, Weijia Yang, Shang Wu, Fangru Jin, Zhongjie Shen, Xiangyang Li, Yonggui Robin Chi, Baoan Song, Runjiang Song
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2025-01-01
Series:Research
Online Access:https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/research.0637
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849325398937042944
author Xiaoyi Wang
Weijia Yang
Shang Wu
Fangru Jin
Zhongjie Shen
Xiangyang Li
Yonggui Robin Chi
Baoan Song
Runjiang Song
author_facet Xiaoyi Wang
Weijia Yang
Shang Wu
Fangru Jin
Zhongjie Shen
Xiangyang Li
Yonggui Robin Chi
Baoan Song
Runjiang Song
author_sort Xiaoyi Wang
collection DOAJ
description Plant diseases caused by vegetable viruses are an important threat to global food security, presenting a major challenge for the development of antiviral agrochemicals. Functional proteins of plant viruses play a crucial role in the viral life cycle, and targeted inhibition of these proteins has emerged as a promising strategy. However, the current discovery of antiviral small molecules is hampered by the limitations of synthetic approaches and the narrow range of targets. Herein, we report a practical application of organocatalysis for serving pesticide discovery that bears a unique molecular basis. An N-heterocyclic carbene-modulated reaction is first designed to asymmetrically functionalize diverse natural phenols with phthalides. Our designed method is capable of producing a series of new phthalidyl ethers under mild conditions with good yields, enantioselectivity, and functional group tolerance. Among these, compound (R)-3w exhibits excellent and enantioselectivity-preferred curative activity against potato virus Y (PVY). Mechanistically, it is proposed that (R)-3w interacts with the nuclear inclusion body A (Nia) protein of PVY at the His150 residue. This binding impairs Nia’s function to cleavage polyprotein, thereby inhibiting formation of viral replication complex. The study provides insights into advancing synthetic protocol to facilitate agrochemical discovery, and our identified (R)-3w may serve as a potential lead for future research and development PVY-Nia inhibitors.
format Article
id doaj-art-3d2cb1c65dbf47e682ea34a6fe9afefc
institution Kabale University
issn 2639-5274
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
record_format Article
series Research
spelling doaj-art-3d2cb1c65dbf47e682ea34a6fe9afefc2025-08-20T03:48:26ZengAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Research2639-52742025-01-01810.34133/research.0637Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit ProliferationXiaoyi Wang0Weijia Yang1Shang Wu2Fangru Jin3Zhongjie Shen4Xiangyang Li5Yonggui Robin Chi6Baoan Song7Runjiang Song8State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.State Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals of Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.Plant diseases caused by vegetable viruses are an important threat to global food security, presenting a major challenge for the development of antiviral agrochemicals. Functional proteins of plant viruses play a crucial role in the viral life cycle, and targeted inhibition of these proteins has emerged as a promising strategy. However, the current discovery of antiviral small molecules is hampered by the limitations of synthetic approaches and the narrow range of targets. Herein, we report a practical application of organocatalysis for serving pesticide discovery that bears a unique molecular basis. An N-heterocyclic carbene-modulated reaction is first designed to asymmetrically functionalize diverse natural phenols with phthalides. Our designed method is capable of producing a series of new phthalidyl ethers under mild conditions with good yields, enantioselectivity, and functional group tolerance. Among these, compound (R)-3w exhibits excellent and enantioselectivity-preferred curative activity against potato virus Y (PVY). Mechanistically, it is proposed that (R)-3w interacts with the nuclear inclusion body A (Nia) protein of PVY at the His150 residue. This binding impairs Nia’s function to cleavage polyprotein, thereby inhibiting formation of viral replication complex. The study provides insights into advancing synthetic protocol to facilitate agrochemical discovery, and our identified (R)-3w may serve as a potential lead for future research and development PVY-Nia inhibitors.https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/research.0637
spellingShingle Xiaoyi Wang
Weijia Yang
Shang Wu
Fangru Jin
Zhongjie Shen
Xiangyang Li
Yonggui Robin Chi
Baoan Song
Runjiang Song
Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation
Research
title Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation
title_full Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation
title_fullStr Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation
title_full_unstemmed Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation
title_short Carbene-Catalyzed Phthalide Ether Functionalization for Discovering Chiral Phytovirucide that Specifically Targets Viral Nia Protein to Inhibit Proliferation
title_sort carbene catalyzed phthalide ether functionalization for discovering chiral phytovirucide that specifically targets viral nia protein to inhibit proliferation
url https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/research.0637
work_keys_str_mv AT xiaoyiwang carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT weijiayang carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT shangwu carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT fangrujin carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT zhongjieshen carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT xiangyangli carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT yongguirobinchi carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT baoansong carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation
AT runjiangsong carbenecatalyzedphthalideetherfunctionalizationfordiscoveringchiralphytovirucidethatspecificallytargetsviralniaproteintoinhibitproliferation