Bat coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2: what about their 3CL proteases (MPro)?
J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem
; 37(1): 1077-1082, 2022 Dec.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1788416
ABSTRACT
Despite a huge effort by the scientific community to determine the animal reservoir of SARS-CoV-2, which led to the identification of several SARS-CoV-2-related viruses both in bats and in pangolins, the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is still not clear. Recently, Temmam et al. reported the discovery of bat coronaviruses with a high degree of genome similarity with SARS-CoV-2, especially concerning the RBDs of the S protein, which mediates the capability of such viruses to enter and therefore infect human cells through a hACE2-dependent pathway. These viruses, especially the one named BANAL-236, showed a higher affinity for the hACE2 compared to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. In the present work, we analyse the similarities and differences between the 3CL protease (main protease, Mpro) of these newly reported viruses and SARS-CoV-2, discussing their relevance relative to the efficacy of existing therapeutic approaches against COVID-19, particularly concerning the recently approved orally available Paxlovid, and the development of future ones.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Chiroptera
/
Coronavirus
/
Coronavirus 3C Proteases
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Journal:
J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem
Journal subject:
Biochemistry
/
Chemistry
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
14756366.2022.2062336
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