UF Team Identifies Novel Targets for COVID-19 Antivirals
A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Florida is making progress in their search for targets that could be used for developing treatments for infections with COVID-19. The team posted a paper to bioRxiv reporting the identification of 53 novel genes and pathways that could become druggable targets for antiviral therapies for COVID-19 plus a broad array of coronavirus types.
Their work also identified existing compounds that target many of these same genes and pathways and that function as inhibitors to reduce viral growth. These antivirals are candidates for further testing as possible pan-coronavirus inhibitors, the team says, which could be effective at reducing the severity of infection across multiple types of coronaviruses.
The UF investigators used CRISPR gene editing techniques to search for genes and molecular pathways that aid in the replication of human coronaviruses. Team members include Stephanie Karst of the UF College of Medicine, Chris Vulpe of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Michael Norris of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Principal investigator Norris, a UF molecular biologist and bioengineer, says that identifying new or repurposed therapeutics is critical due to the increasing impact of new genetic variants in the pandemic.
“We need every possible weapon against this virus,” says Norris, who is a member of UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute.
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