COVID-19: Insights into Structure-Function Relationship, Drug Targets and Drug Design Strategies for Novel-Coronavirus 2019

Abstract

Background: Novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) imposed deadly health calamity with unexpected disastrous situation alarming the globe for urgent treatment regimes. World Health Organization (WHO) termed the coronavirus disease as COVID-2019 on February 11, 2020 and announced its outbreak as pandemic on 11 March 2020. The first infection was noticed in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in December 2019 and it is believed that the corona-virus is transmitted to humans through bats as a reservoir and involving human to human transfer, although the proper intermediary transmission channel is yet unestablished. Methods: Elderly populations and patients with concomitant symptoms are more at risk as compared to middle-aged patients as it may progress to pneumonia followed by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and multi-organ failure. Morbidity rates estimated in patients are less i.e. 2-3% but the dearth of a specific treatment strategy to prevent coronavirus infection is a major concern. Results: Currently, anti-viral and anti-malarial drugs are in practice for the management of COVID-19 disease along with plasma therapy in the absence of a potent vaccine. Besides, home isolation and social distancing are the precautionary measures adopted by many countries to minimize the spread of infection. Various studies have been conducted and numerous are still going on to establish specific treatment for COVID-19. Conclusion: In this review, we summarized information on the structural components of COVID19 virus with special emphasis on virus genome, life cycle, the importance of protease enzyme, the role of spike proteins in viral replication, validated drug targets, ongoing effective treatments for COVID-19 management and the latest research on drug design to develop anti-CoV drugs.

Virtual Screening of Potential Quorum Sensing Inhibitors of P. aeruginosa

“…The molecular docking approach is highly beneficial as the resultant lead compounds can be directly evaluated for clinical studies and drug development process. [8][9][10] This research work aimed at identifying novel quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) of target protein (LasR) of P. aeruginosa by using virtual screening studies. A supported literature by Borges A. et al, and Chourasiya et al, suggested that 'thiazoles derivatives' showed stronger interaction, better than that of native ligand (OHN) with the target protein (LasR).…”