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Repurposing existing drugs for monkeypox: applications of virtual screening methods.
Vladimir Li1, Youngho Lee1, Chul Lee2
1Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Genes & Genomics
|September 15, 2023
Summary
Researchers identified 26 existing drugs, including antivirals and anti-tumor agents, as potential treatments for monkeypox. These drugs show higher theoretical potency than the current standard, offering hope for new monkeypox therapies.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Drug Discovery
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Monkeypox is a viral disease endemic to Africa, now a global concern due to outbreaks in non-endemic regions.
- Despite its history since 1970, no specific treatments or vaccines for monkeypox are currently available.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify potential drug candidates for monkeypox treatment using drug repositioning.
- To find affordable and effective therapeutic options for the emerging global health threat.
Main Methods:
- Employed drug repositioning by screening existing approved drugs for anti-monkeypox activity.
- Utilized virtual ligand-based and structure-based screening techniques to identify promising compounds.
Main Results:
- Identified 6 antiviral and 20 anti-tumor drugs with theoretically higher potency than tecovirimat.
- These selected drugs demonstrated strong binding affinity to the monkeypox virus p37 receptor.
Conclusions:
- The identified drug compounds show potential for future monkeypox treatment strategies.
- Further studies are warranted to confirm the in vivo effectiveness of these candidate drugs against monkeypox.
