tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Acta Pharmacol Sin
. 2022 Jan 20.
doi: 10.1038/s41401-021-00851-w. Online ahead of print.
Structure genomics of SARS-CoV-2 and its Omicron variant: drug design templates for COVID-19
Can-Rong Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wan-Chao Yin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yi Jiang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], H Eric Xu[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has brought an unprecedented public health crisis and persistently threatens to humanity. With tireless efforts from scientists around the world, understanding of the biology of coronavirus has been greatly enhanced over the past 2 years. Structural biology has demonstrated its powerful impact on uncovering structures and functions for the vast majority of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and guided the development of drugs and vaccines against COVID-19. In this review, we summarize current progress in the structural biology of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss important biological issues that remain to be addressed. We present the examples of structure-based design of Pfizer's novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug PF-07321332 (Paxlovid), Merck's nucleotide inhibitor molnupiravir (Lagevrio), and VV116, an oral drug candidate for COVID-19. These examples highlight the importance of structure in drug discovery to combat COVID-19. We also discussed the recent variants of Omicron and its implication in immunity escape from existing vaccines and antibody therapies.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; drug design; omicron; structural biology; vaccine development.
. 2022 Jan 20.
doi: 10.1038/s41401-021-00851-w. Online ahead of print.
Structure genomics of SARS-CoV-2 and its Omicron variant: drug design templates for COVID-19
Can-Rong Wu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Wan-Chao Yin[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Yi Jiang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], H Eric Xu[SUP] 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35058587
- DOI: 10.1038/s41401-021-00851-w
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has brought an unprecedented public health crisis and persistently threatens to humanity. With tireless efforts from scientists around the world, understanding of the biology of coronavirus has been greatly enhanced over the past 2 years. Structural biology has demonstrated its powerful impact on uncovering structures and functions for the vast majority of SARS-CoV-2 proteins and guided the development of drugs and vaccines against COVID-19. In this review, we summarize current progress in the structural biology of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss important biological issues that remain to be addressed. We present the examples of structure-based design of Pfizer's novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug PF-07321332 (Paxlovid), Merck's nucleotide inhibitor molnupiravir (Lagevrio), and VV116, an oral drug candidate for COVID-19. These examples highlight the importance of structure in drug discovery to combat COVID-19. We also discussed the recent variants of Omicron and its implication in immunity escape from existing vaccines and antibody therapies.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; drug design; omicron; structural biology; vaccine development.