New study could help inhibit the multiplication of SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic that began in Asia and has visited every continent on the planet shows no signs of stopping. The virus travels, mutates, appears in new strains, and scientists are tirelessly searching for solutions to this disease that has caused so many deaths and changed everyone's lives since 2019.

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) have discovered what could be called a " weak point of the virus" that could halt protein production and inhibit its replication. The discovery by these experts, with the help of scientists from the Swiss Universities of Bern and Lausanne, as well as an Irish university in Cork, and published in the journal Science , could be the basis for future drugs and pave the way for new medications against the virus.

SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronavirus family, which has a crown-like protein coat protruding from its surface. Beneath this crown is a strand of RNA that acts as the virus's genetic material. When the virus infects human cells, it hijacks the existing molecular machinery to create its own proteins, which are necessary to generate more viral copies.

The key is to find a mechanism that prevents the virus from spreading in its attempt to infect human cells. There are different ways to do this, depending on the target. In this case, the aim is to halt protein production, which is essential for the coronavirus because it uses these proteins to enter cells and interact with receptors. Without protein production, viral replication would be reduced.

The basis of the finding lies in the incorrect reading of the RNA.

Viruses require the resources of an infected cell to replicate and then infect more cells and spread to other individuals. An essential step in the viral life cycle is the production of new viral proteins according to the instructions in the viral RNA genome. Following these blueprints, the cell's own protein synthesis machinery, called the ribosome, produces the viral proteins.

In the absence of viral infection, the ribosome moves along the RNA in strictly defined steps, reading three RNA letters at a time. This three-letter code defines the corresponding amino acid that binds to the growing protein. It almost never happens that the ribosome slips one or two RNA letters forward or backward instead of following the regular three-letter steps. When such a ribosome slippage occurs, it is called a "frameshift" and leads to a misreading of the genetic code. The idea is that the ribosome only reads one or two letters of the ribonucleic acid in a sequence—that is, that it misreads—which would significantly weaken the virus.

Although it does not specify which component or drug would be ideal, it does point the way to continue research or the area to target with the development of future drugs, something that is now left in the hands of pharmaceutical companies.

Ramona Ávila Núñez, PhD

Reference