The search for specific and effective chemotherapeutics for the treatment of the novel coronavirus-induced diseases is necessary and pressing in the context of the present pandemic event and in light of future dangerous outbreaks.
The aim of this project is to identify new peptidomimetic compounds to be used as springboard towards the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs.
Our strategy is based on recent findings on the structural and functional features of the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and human host at the molecular level, which suggest that blocking such interaction with exogenous molecules would impede (or highly impair) viral entry, thus halting the virus infection at very early stages. In particular, selective inhibition of two key players namely, the viral spike glycoprotein SP and the human ACE2 receptor, would incapacitate virus binding and invasion.
Peptidomimetics halting SARS-CoV-2 entry via inhibition of spike protein/ACE2 complex: depiction of the concept.
Main publications about this subject:
Bugatti K., Sartori A., Battistini L., Coppa C., Vanhulle E., Noppen S., Provinciael B., Naesens L., Stevaert A., Contini A., Vermeire K., Zanardi F. Novel Polymyxin-Inspired Peptidomimetics Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Spike:hACE2 Interface, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(10), 8765; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24108765