The mechanism of "old medicine" Fabiravir against the new coronavirus has been revealed

Recently, in a study published in the journal Innovation of Cell Press,
Microbiologists Shi I, Qi Jianxun and others, for the first time expounded the way Fabiravir interacts with the new coronavirus polymerase, which provides the structural basis for the development of new broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
, WHO expects the total number of newly crowned cases to reach 100 million. According to Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of January 27, Beijing time, the number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia has exceeded 100 million, of which more than 2.15 million have died. Although several vaccines are now available worldwide, the number of new cases per day is still a huge number (more than 700,000). Therefore, the development of anti-new coronavirus drugs is imminent.
coronavirus is a just RNA virus with a wide host range. At present, seven species of coronavirus infected with humans have been identified, of which the new coronavirus and the 2002-2003 "SARS" virus appeared in the genome sequence of the highest similarity (79.5%). "The virus is mutating all the time, and we're worried about whether there will be new coronavirus effects in the future, and we need some broad-spectrum antiviral drugs as a reserve at this time." Shi I, the paper's author and a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology, told China Science Daily.
"new use of old drugs" is a fast and efficient screening strategy. Up to now, a variety of drugs have been carried out in clinical trials, of which Redsivir and Fabiravir are the most popular. Preliminary clinical data available suggest that Fabiravir is more effective, has fewer side effects, can be oral, and is a more promising treatment than Redsivir.
, which is mainly used to treat new or re-epidemic influenza in adults. Fapiravir and Redsivir are both nucleoside drugs. After taking it, it is converted into an active form of tripolyphosphate in the body. Fabiravir inhibits viral replication primarily by inducing mutations in the genomic RNA of the virus's children, unlike Redsivir or other nucleoside analogues that cause the synthesis of viral RNA to terminate, which can impair the extension of RNA products.
The authors analyzed the high-resolution structure of Fabirave and the new coronary polymerase complex using cryoelectrome technology, revealing unexpected base pairing patterns between Fabirave and the residual base, which may explain its ability to mimic adenine and ostrich nucleotides. The study also found that Fapirave was in a pre-catalytic configuration, and that polymerases identified the amino acid residues of Fapirave as relatively conservative in different viruses. The authors say this structure helps to better understand the catalytic process of neo-coronavirus polymerases and provides a structural basis for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs based on polymerase catalytic mechanisms. (Source: Feng Lifei, China Science Journal)
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