Discovery of high effective peptide inhibitors against MAS coronavirus

Shanghai, January 29 (reporter Huang Xin, Wang Qing trainee reporter Zhao Guangli correspondent sun guogen) The reporter learned from the school of basic medicine of Fudan University that Professor Jiang Shibo's research group found a kind of high-efficient peptide inhibitor against "Middle East respiratory syndrome (mers) coronavirus" in a study, which is of great significance to further study the invasion mechanism of the virus and research and development of prevention and control drugs The results were published in nature communication in the early morning of January 29, Beijing time The mortality rate of Middle East respiratory syndrome is as high as 43%, but there are no specific drugs and vaccines against the virus in the world In cooperation with the Institute of biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Hong Kong, the research team of Jiang Shibo has studied the mechanism of the fusion of Mars coronavirus and its entry into the host cells Based on their experience in the successful development of peptide drugs for the treatment of AIDS over the years, they have "locked" the target in the important S2 protein core functional area of the virus, and obtained three core functional areas by crystallization technology A series of virus fusion inhibitory polypeptides were designed and synthesized based on the 3D structure diagram It was found that one of the polypeptides could effectively inhibit the fusion of Mars coronavirus and enter the host cell, and named it "hr2p" Jiang Shibo said that the mechanism of action of hr2p peptide is: when the Mars virus infects human cells, the "HR2 functional area" of its key protein, S protein 2, must interact with the "HR1 functional area" of S2 protein, so that it can "be allowed" to enter human cells for reproduction They found that the polypeptide hr2p can combine with HR1 functional region of S2 protein of Mars virus in advance, thus blocking the channel and preventing the virus from infecting human cells The researchers also modified the hr2p peptide to further improve its antiviral activity and the potential to develop safe and specific drugs, so that the drug can be used not only for the treatment of Mars virus, but also for the prevention of high-risk groups before and after exposure, so as to prevent the spread of Mars coronavirus China Science Daily (2014-01-30, 4th Edition, comprehensive)