Journal of biosciences
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Journal of biosciences · Jan 2020
ReviewGlobal efforts on vaccines for COVID-19: Since, sooner or later, we all will catch the coronavirus.
COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease that has turned into a pandemic. It spreads through droplet transmission of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It is an RNA virus displaying a spike protein as the major surface protein with significant sequence similarity to SARS-CoV which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome. ⋯ While multiple candidate vaccines are currently under different stages of development, there are no known therapeutic interventions at the moment. This review describes the key genetic features that are being considered for generating vaccine candidates by employing innovative technologies. It also highlights the global efforts being undertaken to deliver vaccines for COVID-19 through unprecedented international cooperation and future challenges post development.
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Journal of biosciences · Jan 2020
ReviewDrug targets for COVID-19 therapeutics: Ongoing global efforts.
The current global pandemic COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has already inflicted insurmountable damage both to the human lives and global economy. There is an immediate need for identification of effective drugs to contain the disastrous virus outbreak. Global efforts are already underway at a war footing to identify the best drug combination to address the disease. ⋯ Also, the strategies for ongoing and future drug discovery against the SARSCoV- 2 virus are outlined. Given the urgency to find a definitive cure, ongoing drug repurposing efforts being carried out by various organizations are also described. The unprecedented crisis requires extraordinary efforts from the scientific community to effectively address the issue and prevent further loss of human lives and health.
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Journal of biosciences · Jan 2020
Identification of a repurposed drug as an inhibitor of Spike protein of human coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 by computational methods.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging new viral pathogen that causes severe respiratory disease. SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. As there are no confirmed antiviral drugs or vaccines currently available for the treatment of COVID-19, discovering potent inhibitors or vaccines are urgently required for the benefit of humanity. ⋯ It binds nicely at the S-protein-ACE2 interface by making substantial π-π interactions with Tyr505 in the 'Site 1' hook region of RBD and hydrophilic interactions with Glu406, Ser494, and Thr500. Bisoxatin consistently binds to the protein throughout the 100 ns simulation. Taken together, we propose that the discovered molecule, Bisoxatin may be a promising repurposable drug molecule to develop new chemical libraries for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 entry into the host.