There are a large number of coronaviruses that cause infectious diseases, from SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, responsible for COVID-19, to those that cause the common cold, and a group of scientists from the Institute of Life Sciences of the The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver (Canada) has identified a compound capable of stopping infections caused by a variety of coronaviruses, including those mentioned, and that could be used to develop antiviral treatments against many different pathogens, according to published results. in Molecular Biomedicine.
“Beyond COVID-19, there are many different types of coronaviruses that can cause serious and sometimes fatal illness, with even more likely to emerge in the future,” said Dr. Yossef Av-Gay, professor of infectious diseases at UBC School of Medicine and the study’s lead author. “We are working on treatments that can be broadly effective against all types of coronavirus so that we can respond not only to current health challenges, but also to future pandemic threats. Identifying this compound and the pathway by which it works to stop viruses is an important step in that direction.”
A therapy that prevents coronaviruses from replicating in the body
In the opinion of the researchers, the great effectiveness of the compound is due to its particular way of acting since, instead of targeting the virus itself, it targets a human cellular process used by coronaviruses to replicate. In order to reproduce, viruses rely on protein synthesis pathways in host cells to create copies of themselves; in the case of coronaviruses, they use a human enzyme called GSK3 beta that is found in all human cells.
“We are working on treatments that can be broadly effective against all types of coronaviruses to respond to current health challenges and future pandemic threats”
“We found that coronaviruses hijack this human enzyme and use it to edit the protein that contains their genetic material,” said Dr. Tirosh Shapira, a postdoctoral fellow at the UBC School of Medicine and first author of the study. “This compound blocks GSK3 beta, which in turn prevents the virus from reproducing and maturing its proteins.” “By targeting this cellular pathway, rather than the virus itself, we see broad activity against multiple pathogens. We are also acting on a pathway that until now is immune to changes between variants and different coronaviruses”, adds Dr. Shapira.
The compound these scientists have identified is part of a larger family of experimental drugs known as GSK3 inhibitors, which have been studied since the late 1990s for their potential as treatments for various diseases, including diabetes. , Alzheimer’s and cancer.
The researchers’ goal was to search for a compound that would provide broad-spectrum protection, and to do so they screened a library of almost 100 known GSK3 inhibitors, which were tested in cell and tissue models infected with SARS-CoV-2 and the virus. common cold. They thus found numerous GSK3 inhibitors that showed a high level of effectiveness against coronaviruses and low toxicity to human cells. The lead compound, identified as T-1686568, inhibited both SARS-CoV-2 and the common cold virus.
“While these are early days, it is encouraging to see broad levels of effectiveness in tissue models,” notes Dr. Shapira. “Because these compounds require many years of testing and regulatory approval before they can potentially reach patients, we need to think about long-term applications and how this could broadly apply to future viruses and variants.” “We are not just fighting SARS-CoV-2, we are looking to the future.” “We are focused on identifying future-proof treatments for variants and viruses that emerge down the road and rely on the same cellular mechanisms to grow and infect,” concludes Dr. Shapira.
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