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Nasal Brushing Sampling and Processing Using Digital High Speed Ciliary Videomicroscopy – Adaptation for the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published on: November 7, 2020
COVID-19: CADD to the rescue
Abdulmujeeb T Onawole1, Kazeem O Sulaiman2, Temitope U Kolapo3
1Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261 Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
The recent outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 disease, being caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has put the world on red alert as it keeps spreading and recording more fatalities. Research efforts are being carried out to curtail the disease from spreading as it has been declared as of global health emergency. Hence, there is an exigent need to identify and design drugs that are capable of curing the infection and hinder its continual spread across the globe. Herein, a computer-aided drug design tool known as the virtual screening method was used to screen a database of 44 million compounds to find compounds that have the potential to inhibit the surface glycoprotein responsible for virus entry and binding. The consensus scoring approach selected three compounds with promising physicochemical properties and favorable molecular interactions with the target protein. These selected compounds can undergo lead optimization to be further developed as drugs that can be used in treating the COVID-19 disease.
Insights
Researchers screened 44 million compounds using virtual screening to find potential COVID-19 treatments. Three promising compounds were identified that could inhibit the virus
Area of Science:
- Drug Discovery
- Computational Chemistry
- Virology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, represents a significant global health emergency.
- There is an urgent need for effective antiviral drugs to combat the spread and fatalities associated with the disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify novel compounds with the potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication.
- To utilize computational methods for efficient drug candidate screening.
Main Methods:
- Employed virtual screening of a large compound database (44 million molecules).
- Focused on identifying inhibitors of the viral surface glycoprotein essential for host cell entry.
- Utilized a consensus scoring approach to evaluate compound efficacy and properties.
Main Results:
- Identified three lead compounds exhibiting promising physicochemical characteristics.
- These compounds demonstrated favorable molecular interactions with the target viral protein.
- The selected compounds show potential for further development into COVID-19 therapeutics.
Conclusions:
- Virtual screening is an effective strategy for discovering potential SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors.
- The identified compounds warrant further investigation and lead optimization for drug development.
- This study contributes to the ongoing efforts to find treatments for COVID-19.
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