Compound P3 was a potent stabilizer of the MERS-CoV N protein. (A) Schematic depicting the rationale used in designing the allosteric stabilizer of this study. An orthosteric stabilizer may be used to bind to the non-native interaction interface of the N protein and stabilize the abnormal interaction between proteins. (B) Conformation and (C) stability analyses were performed based on the FL spectra of NTD (1 μM) incubated with P1–P3 (10 μM) for 1 h with a buffer consisting of 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3) and 150 mM NaCl.