Crystallisation of coxsackievirus A16 2A protease in space group C2 used for apo, fragment screen and follow-up compounds v1

This protocol was used to grow coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) 2A protease crystals that were used as a surrogate for enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) 2A protease in high-throughput crystallographic fragment screening and in the crystallographic screening of follow-up compounds against the target. (PDB ID of apo-structure solved using sulfur phasing: pdb_000029jc) Picornaviridae, primarily CVA16 and EV-A71, are the causative agents of paediatric hand-foot-and-mouth disease. These viruses are a target for pandemic preparedness due to the risk of higher-order complications in a large-scale outbreak. The 2A protease of the viruses is responsible for self-cleavage from the polyprotein, allowing for correct folding and assembly of capsid proteins in the final stages of viral replication. Inhibition deranges capsid folding and assembly, preventing formation of mature virions in host cells and making the protease a valuable target for antiviral activity.