Scientists at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University in the United States have found that the three deadly coronaviruses SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV may have the same vulnerabilities, which makes it possible to create a universal drug against these pathogens. In their article, published in the journal Science, the experts described a drug target common to the viruses that cause COVID-19 and SARS.
Researchers have found more than 300 proteins produced by the infected cell that interact with SARS-CoV-2. Of these, experts have identified 20 molecules that affect how many viral particles of each of the three coronaviruses are synthesized inside human cells. These proteins include Tom70, which interacts with the Orf9b coronavirus gene belonging to both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.
Tom70 is a mitochondrial enzyme that is involved in the movement of protein molecules into mitochondria from the cytosol. It also plays a role in the activation of mitochondrial signaling proteins that provide protection against viral infection. However, scientists have shown that Tom70 plays into the hands of coronaviruses, and the Tom70-Orf9b complex can be used as a target for broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
A drug target is a molecule or complex of molecules belonging to a pathogen or a host organism that is targeted by a drug to provide a therapeutic effect.
SARS-CoV-1 is a Chinese coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS or SARS) and spread around the world in 2003. It is related to the new coronavirus and has a similar origin. During its largest outbreak, the coronavirus infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774 of those infected.
