Diversion of drugs for the treatment of pan-coronavirus

On October 15, a large international consortium of approximately 200 researchers from 14 major institutions in Cambridge-6 countries sought to find shared vulnerabilities (3 different coronaviruses). SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV) were studied. By these three pathogens. The study, published in Science, identifies important molecular mechanisms essential for all three coronaviruses and drugs that have the potential to be reused as a pan-coronavirus treatment.

The consortium includes EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Quantitative Biological Sciences Institute (QBI) Coronavirus Research Group (QCRG), Gladstone Institutes, and Pastor Research. By the way, researchers from the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS were included. Other collaborators, including Freiberg University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and biotechnology companies Aetion and Synthego.

There are three known human respiratory syndromes associated with coronavirus: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). These are caused by SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2, respectively.

Scientists have identified drug discovery targets and reused therapies that may have broad-spectrum activity across all three coronavirus strains. Reused therapies with known safety profiles may provide a rapid therapeutic response to new coronavirus strains in the future.

Identifying coronavirus drug discovery targets

Based on previous studies published in Nature and Cell, scientists have found out how viral and human proteins interact and where the viral proteins are in host cells infected with various coronaviruses. I decided. They then used this data and functional genetic screening to identify host factors that prevent the growth of coronavirus. The data analyzed in this study will be freely accessible from the COVID-19 Data Portal.

“These analyzes show how biological and molecular information is translated into actual effects on the treatment of COVID-19 and other viral diseases,” said EMBL-EBI Group Leader. One Pedro Beltrao says. “In the last two decades, after more than a century of relatively harmless coronaviruses, three deadly coronaviruses have emerged. Examining the entire species may be a pandemic that may be effective in treating coronaviruses. We can predict viral remedies. We believe that the current pandemic will also provide promising treatments for future coronaviruses. “

Another Step to Treat COVID-19

The researchers also performed a real-world analysis of clinical data on outcomes in patients with COVID-19. To do this, they identify molecules in human cells that may be targets for FDA-approved therapeutic agents and how these agents affect patients with COVID-19 in the clinic. I looked it up. The analysis involved more than 740,000 patients in the United States with known SARS-CoV-2 infections.

The data and analysis performed in this study show how molecular information is transformed into actual effects on the treatment of COVID-19. This study also presents a collaborative approach that can be applied to study other infectious pathogens in the future.

“This extensive international study reveals for the first time the commonalities of the entire coronavirus, and, importantly, its vulnerabilities, including the current challenges for the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Gladstone, director of QBI. Nevan Krogan, senior researcher at the institute, said. “Bridge biological and functional insights and clinical outcomes in a unique and rapid way, conduct research on all diseases, quickly identify promising treatments, and gain knowledge in both scientific and medical disciplines. We were able to provide an exemplary model of a differentiated way to advance. This series of work is only done in collaboration with senior scientific thought leaders and teams of next-generation researchers from major institutions around the world. It is now possible. “