Study of sars-cov entry mechanism and development of protein mimetic inhibitors

Abstract

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002 and 2003 was caused by a novel and lethal virus, SARS-CoV. The existence of animal reservoirs of SARS-CoV and the threat of re-emergence of the disease intensified the urgency for clarifying its viral entry mechanism and searching for effective antiviral reagents. As one of the coronaviruses, its viral entry process is mediated by the S protein. Here, I present our study on SARS-CoV S protein and a potential approach for designing SARS-CoV viral entry inhibitors.