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Analysis of institutional authors

Macip, GAuthorGarcia-Segura, PAuthorSaldivar-Espinoza, BAuthorPujadas, GCorresponding Author

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January 3, 2022
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A review of the current landscape of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors: Have we hit the bullseye yet?

Publicated to:International Journal Of Molecular Sciences. 23 (1): 259- - 2022-01-01 23(1), DOI: 10.3390/ijms23010259

Authors: Macip, Guillem; Garcia-Segura, Pol; Mestres-Truyol, Julia; Saldivar-Espinoza, Bryan; Pujadas, Gerard; Garcia-Vallve, Santiago

Affiliations

Research Group in Cheminformatics & Nutrition, Departament de Bioquímica i Biotecnologia, Campus Sescelades, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Catalonia, 43007, Spain - Author
Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Bioquim & Biotecnol, Res Grp Cheminformat & Nutr, Campus Sescelades, Tarragona 43007, Catalonia, Spain - Author

Abstract

In this review, we collected 1765 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2) M-pro inhibitors from the bibliography and other sources, such as the COVID Moonshot project and the ChEMBL database. This set of inhibitors includes only those compounds whose in-hibitory capacity, mainly expressed as the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value, against M-pro from SARS-CoV-2 has been determined. Several covalent warheads are used to treat covalent and non-covalent inhibitors separately. Chemical space, the variation of the IC50 inhibitory activity when measured by different methods or laboratories, and the influence of 1,4-dithiothreitol (DTT) are discussed. When available, we have collected the values of inhibition of viral replication measured with a cellular antiviral assay and expressed as half maximal effective concentration (EC50) values, and their possible relationship to inhibitory potency against M-pro is analyzed. Finally, the most potent covalent and non-covalent inhibitors that simultaneously inhibit the SARS- CoV-2 M-pro and the virus replication in vitro are discussed. © 2021 by the authors. Li-censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

3cl proteases3cl-pro inhibitorsbindingcomputational chemistrydesigndiscoveryidentificationm-pro inhibitorsprotease inhibitorsreplicationvirtual screening3c-like proteinase, sars-cov-23cl-pro inhibitorsAntiviral agentsComputational chemistryCoronavirus 3c proteasesCovid-19Databases, pharmaceuticalEnzyme assaysInhibitory concentration 50M-pro inhibitorsProtease in-hibitorsProtease inhibitorsSars-cov-2Small-molecule inhibitorsVirtual screeningVirus replication

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal International Journal Of Molecular Sciences due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 66/285, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.62. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 2.88 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 5.91 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-17, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 31
  • Scopus: 36
  • Europe PMC: 19

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-17:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 78.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 78 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9242334

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Macip Sancho, Guillem) and Last Author (Garcia-Vallve, S).

the authors responsible for correspondence tasks have been Pujadas Anguiano, Gerard and Garcia-Vallve, S.