Identification of Novel Small Molecules as Inhibitors of Hepatitis C Virus by Structure-Based Virtual Screening

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/NS4A serine protease is essential for viral replication, which is regarded as a promising drug target for developing direct-acting anti-HCV agents. In this study, sixteen novel compounds with cell-based HCV replicon activity ranging from 3.0 to 28.2 M (IC50) were successfully identified by means of structure-based virtual screening. Compound 5 and compound 11, with an IC50 of 3.0 M and 5.1 M, respectively, are the two most potent molecules with low cytotoxicity.