Peptides could inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication

Categorie(s) : Innovation & Society, News, Research

Published : 6 December 2021

Irig is one of eleven research teams in five countries that have been working on how to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication since April 2020. They are investigating synthetic peptides that bind to MPro, which plays a key role in the replication of this virus.
The researchers combined several biomolecular simulation techniques to observe, at the scale of a single atom, how MPro hydrolyzes certain proteins at eleven sites. They then used this information to design synthetic peptides capable of binding more tightly to the enzyme than natural peptides, keeping the virus from replicating.
The research was published in the journal Chemical Science, but it is not ready to use just yet. This new approach could serve as a foundation for the development of Covid-19 treatments. The results are available free of charge on GitHub.

Contact: luigi.genovese@cea.fr
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