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Author Spotlight: Advancements in Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses

Author Spotlight: Advancements in Multiplex Detection of Respiratory Viruses

Published on: November 10, 2023

COVID-19 outbreak: history, mechanism, transmission, structural studies and therapeutics

Dhanusha Yesudhas¹, Ambuj Srivastava², M Michael Gromiha^3,4

¹Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India. dhanusha2504@gmail.com.

|September 5, 2020

Abstract

Purpose:

The coronavirus outbreak emerged as a severe pandemic, claiming more than 0.8 million lives across the world and raised a major global health concern. We survey the history and mechanism of coronaviruses, and the structural characteristics of the spike protein and its key residues responsible for human transmissions.

Methods:

We have carried out a systematic review to summarize the origin, transmission and etiology of COVID-19. The structural analysis of the spike protein and its disordered residues explains the mechanism of the viral transmission. A meta-data analysis of the therapeutic compounds targeting the SARS-CoV-2 is also included.

Results:

Coronaviruses can cross the species barrier and infect humans with unexpected consequences for public health. The transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection is higher compared to that of the closely related SARS-CoV infections. In SARS-CoV-2 infection, intrinsically disordered regions are observed at the interface of the spike protein and ACE2 receptor, providing a shape complementarity to the complex. The key residues of the spike protein have stronger binding affinity with ACE2. These can be probable reasons for the higher transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we have also discussed the therapeutic compounds and the vaccines to target SARS-CoV-2, which can help researchers to develop effective drugs/vaccines for COVID-19. The overall history and mechanism of entry of SARS-CoV-2 along with structural study of spike-ACE2 complex provide insights to understand disease pathogenesis and development of vaccines and drugs.

Keywords:

COVID-19 Coronavirus Epidemiology Intrinsic disorder region SARS-CoV SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics Spike protein

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