9PBC | pdb_00009pbc

Crystal Structure of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (Mpro) L50F/E166V Double Mutant

• PDB DOI: https://doi.org/10.2210/pdb9PBC/pdb

• Classification: VIRAL PROTEIN, HYDROLASE
• Organism(s): Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
• Expression System: Escherichia coli
• Mutation(s): Yes 


• Deposited: 2025-06-26 Released: 2026-01-21 
• Deposition Author(s): Kohaal, N., Lewandowski, E.M., Wang, J., Chen, Y.
• Funding Organization(s): National Institutes of Health/National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID)

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Experimental Data Snapshot

• Method: X-RAY DIFFRACTION
• Resolution: 2.10 Å
• R-Value Free: 
  0.259 (Depositor), 0.270 (DCC) 
• R-Value Work: 
  0.205 (Depositor) 
• R-Value Observed: 
  0.208 (Depositor) 

Starting Model: experimental

Literature

Structure-Based Design of Covalent SARS-CoV‐2 Main Protease Inhibitors Targeting the Nirmatrelvir-Resistant E166 Mutants.

Cai, Z., Kohaal, N., Georgiou, K., Liang, X., Chi, X., Tan, H., Tan, B., Li, K., Fan, G., Lambrinidis, G., Kolocouris, A., Deng, X., Chen, Y., Wang, J.

(2026) JACS Au 6: 233-244

• PubMed: 41614164 
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.5c01178
• Primary Citation Related Structures: 
  9PBC, 9Q7S, 9XYM, 9XYX, 9XYZ, 9XZ6


• PubMed Abstract: 
  

  The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the rapid development of nirmatrelvir, a main protease (M ^pro ) inhibitor now widely prescribed as part of Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir). However, increasing use has raised concerns about drug resistance. Resistance selection studies have identified multiple M ^pro mutations, with E166V emerging as a particularly resistant variant. Sequencing data from COVID-19 patients confirms E166V as a clinically relevant mutation, and importantly, this substitution also confers cross-resistance to several next-generation M ^pro inhibitors under development. In response, this study reports the rational design of inhibitors active against nirmatrelvir-resistant E166V/A mutants. The lead candidate, Jun13698 , shows potent inhibition of both wild-type M ^pro and the E166V/A mutants. Structural studies and molecular dynamics simulations reveal that Jun13698 forms stable complexes with wild-type and mutant proteases, consistent with its potent enzymatic and antiviral activity. Together, these findings position Jun13698 as a promising next-generation M ^pro inhibitor capable of overcoming clinically relevant nirmatrelvir resistance.

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Organizational Affiliation: 
• Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States.
Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, United States.
Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Section of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis-Zografou, Athens 15771, Greece.
Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, United States.
Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, United States.

Biological Assembly 1  

Global Symmetry: Cyclic - C2  (Explore in 3D)
Global Stoichiometry: Homo 2-mer - A2 

Biological assembly 1 assigned by authors and generated by PISA (software)

Macromolecule Content 

• Total Structure Weight: 33.7 kDa 
• Atom Count: 2,434 
• Modeled Residue Count: 305 
• Deposited Residue Count: 305 
• Unique protein chains: 1

Macromolecules

Entity ID: 1
Molecule	Chains	Sequence Length	Organism	Details	Image
3C-like proteinase nsp5	A	305	Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2	Mutation(s): 2  Gene Names: rep, 1a-1b EC: 3.4.22.69
UniProt
Find proteins for P0DTD1 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) Explore P0DTD1  Go to UniProtKB:  P0DTD1

Experimental Data & Validation

Experimental Data

• Method: X-RAY DIFFRACTION
• Resolution: 2.10 Å
• R-Value Free:  0.259 (Depositor), 0.270 (DCC) 
• R-Value Work:  0.205 (Depositor) 
• R-Value Observed: 0.208 (Depositor) 

Space Group: C 1 2 1

Unit Cell:

Length ( Å )	Angle ( ˚ )
a = 113.575	α = 90
b = 54.028	β = 101.24
c = 45.059	γ = 90

Software Package:

Software Name	Purpose
REFMAC	refinement
HKL-2000	data reduction
PDB_EXTRACT	data extraction
HKL-2000	data scaling
PHASER	phasing

Structure Validation

Entry History 

& Funding Information

Deposition Data

• Released Date: 2026-01-21 
Deposition Author(s): Kohaal, N., Lewandowski, E.M., Wang, J., Chen, Y.

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Funding Organization	Location	Grant Number
National Institutes of Health/National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID)	United States	AI158775

Revision History  

• Version 1.0: 2026-01-21
  Type: Initial release
  
• Version 1.1: 2026-02-11
  Changes: Database references