Computational Discovery of Potent Nucleoprotein Inhibitors for Influenza A Virus: Validation Through QM/MM Analysis and Experimental Binding Assays

This study employed an integrated computational approach to discover novel nucleoprotein (NP) inhibitors for influenza A virus (IAV). Beginning with virtual screening of over 10 million compounds using Schrödinger's Glide module (HTVS, SP, XP docking), the workflow identified promising candidates with favorable binding energies. Subsequent molecular mechanics/generalized born surface area (MM-GBSA) calculations and 100 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations prioritized 16 compounds for experimental validation. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays revealed that compounds <b>8</b>, <b>13</b>, and <b>14</b> demonstrated superior target engagement, showing equilibrium dissociation constants (<i>K</i>_D) of 7.85 × 10^-5 M, 3.82 × 10^-5 M, and 6.97 × 10^-5 M, respectively. Molecular dynamics, alanine scanning mutagenesis, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) analysis were conducted to analyze the binding modes, providing a reference for the design of subsequent compounds. These findings validate the efficacy of structure-based virtual screening in identifying high-affinity NP inhibitors and provide insights for the development of broad-spectrum anti-influenza therapeutics.