Abstract
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are positive-stranded RNA viruses that infect humans and animals. Infection by CoVs such as HCoV-229E,-NL63,-OC43 and-HKU1 leads to the common cold, short lasting rhinitis, cough, sore throat and fever. However, CoVs such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and the newest SARS-CoV-2 (the causative agent of COVID-19) lead to severe and deadly diseases with mortality rates ranging between ~1 to 35% depending on factors such as age and pre-existing conditions. Despite continuous global health threats to humans, there are no approved vaccines or drugs targeting human CoVs, and the recent outbreak of COVID-19 emphasizes an urgent need for therapeutic interventions. Using computational and bioinformatics tools, here we present the feasibility of reported broad-spectrum RNA polymerase inhibitors as anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs targeting its main RNA polymerase, suggesting that investigational and approved nucleoside RNA polymerase inhibitors have potential as anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs. However, we note that it is also possible for SARS-CoV-2 to evolve and acquire drug resistance mutations against these nucleoside inhibitors.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Article number | 320 |
Journal | Pathogens |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2020 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Coronavirus
- MERS-CoV
- Nsp12
- RNA polymerase
- SARS-CoV
- SARS-CoV-2
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Molecular Biology
- General Immunology and Microbiology
- Microbiology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases