Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by Targeting Conserved Viral RNA Structures and Sequences
Issue Date
2021-12-23Author
Hegde, Shalakha
Tang, Zhichao
Zhao, Junxing
Wang, Jingxin
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Rights
© 2021 Hegde, Tang, Zhao and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The ongoing COVID-19/Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has become a significant threat to public health and has hugely impacted societies globally. Targeting conserved SARS-CoV-2 RNA structures and sequences essential for viral genome translation is a novel approach to inhibit viral infection and progression. This new pharmacological modality compasses two classes of RNA-targeting molecules: 1) synthetic small molecules that recognize secondary or tertiary RNA structures and 2) antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) that recognize the RNA primary sequence. These molecules can also serve as a “bait” fragment in RNA degrading chimeras to eliminate the viral RNA genome. This new type of chimeric RNA degrader is recently named ribonuclease targeting chimera or RIBOTAC. This review paper summarizes the sequence conservation in SARS-CoV-2 and the current development of RNA-targeting molecules to combat this virus. These RNA-binding molecules will also serve as an emerging class of antiviral drug candidates that might pivot to address future viral outbreaks.
Description
A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.
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Citation
Hegde S, Tang Z, Zhao J and Wang J (2021) Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by Targeting Conserved Viral RNA Structures and Sequences. Front. Chem. 9:802766. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2021.802766
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