Study says protein Nsp13 may be a new target for new crown drug development

Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, January 13 (intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin) Many treatments for new coronary pneumonia have focused on the spike protein that the virus uses to bind to human cells

Through this work, the scientists also discovered three different compounds that bind to Nsp13 and inhibit viral replication

De Pablo said: "We currently only have one treatment for Covid-19, and as the virus mutates, we absolutely need to target different viral building blocks beyond the spike protein

The researchers found that the protein Nsp13 can dissociate double-stranded DNA into two single strands, a key step in the viral replication process

Several compounds have been reported to act as Nsp13 inhibitors, and this time, the researchers selected three compounds for simulation testing: bananin, SSYA10-001, and chromone-4c

Previously, the team used computer analysis to reveal how the drug ebselen binds to the virus' main protease (Mpro)

Researchers say they used simulation information to design a new drug to treat Covid-19, which they hope to publish in the next few months

"Our newly designed drug could be a 'game changer' for the treatment of Covid-19 in the future," de Pablo said