Science Daily July 21, 2021 A strategy to develop broad-spectrum inhibitors is to pharmacologically target binding sites on SARS-CoV-2 proteins that are highly conserved in other known coronaviruses, the assumption being that any selective pressure to keep a site conserved across past viruses will apply to future ones. An international team of researchers (Canada, UK) systematically mapped druggable binding pockets on the experimental structure of 15 SARS-CoV-2 proteins and analyzed their variation across 27 α- and β-coronaviruses and across thousands of SARS-CoV-2 samples from COVID-19 patients. They found that the two most conserved druggable sites are a pocket overlapping the […]
Category Archives: Broad spectrum drug
Agents that target viral RNA could be the basis for next generation anti-viral drugs
EurekAlert May 10, 2021 The technique proposed by a team of researchers in the UK uses cylindrically shaped molecules which can block the function of a particular section at one end of the RNA strand called untranslated RNA that are essential for regulating the replication of the virus. They contain junction points and bulges which are normally recognised by proteins or other pieces of RNA. The cylindrical molecules are attracted to these holes. Once they slide into them, the RNA closes around them, forming a precise fit, which consequently will interfere with the virus’s ability to replicate. According to the […]