Discovery Program for COVID-19 Targets

The 2019 novel coronavirus (provisionally named 2019-nCoV) is a contagious virus that causes respiratory infection. From genomic sequencing, it has been shown as a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA coronavirus. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in mid-December 2019 and subsequently spreads to all provinces of China and to more than twenty other countries over the world. Creative Biostructure has established an advanced COVID-19 targeted discovery platform to offer a wide variety of products and services to accelerate your research for structure/function study and novel drug discovery.

Our featured services and products include:

• Expression and purification of COVID-19 structural proteins. We provide multiple approaches for expression and purification of coronavirus structural proteins, including Cell-based Protein Expression, Cell-free Protein Expression, Virus-like Particle (VLP) Construction, Nanodiscs Construction, and Liposome-based Protein Construction.
• Structural characterization of COVID-19 proteins. We provide sophisticated 3-D structure determination methods for the functional study of COVID-19. These methods include NMR, X-ray Crystallography, and Cryo-Electron Microscopy.
• COVID-19 related products. We provide a wide range of virus-like particle (VLP) related products that can be used for functional characterization of COVID-19.

Figure 1. Creative Biostructure platform of COVID-19 targets discovery and application.

What is COVID-19?

• Taxonomy: Coronaviridae, Betacoronavirus, Sarbecovirus;
• Genome: approximately 30 Kb positive-sense, single-stranded RNA;
• Structural biology: The viral 3C-like protease M(pro) from the ORF1a polyprotein has been modeled for drug docking experiments (PDB: 6LU7);
• Infection: Human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed;
• RNA Transcript: 5' methyl cap, 3' poly-A tail;
• Transmission: Human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed. Viral RNA has also been found in stool samples from infected patients.

COVID-19 main proteinase (Mpro)

• The coronavirus 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) enzyme, also known as the main protease, is essential for proteolytic maturation of the virus and regulates the activity of the viral replication complex.
• It is thought to be a promising target for discovery of small-molecule drugs that would inhibit cleavage of the viral polyprotein and prevent spread of the infection.
• Comparison of the protein sequence of the COVID-19 coronavirus 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) against the PDB archive identified 95 PDB proteins with at least 90% sequence identity.

Treatment strategies against COVID-19

• Developing neutralizing antibodies to COVID-19
• Using oligonucleotides against COVID-19 RNA genome
• Repurposing currently available antiviral medications
• Passive antibody transfer from convalescent patient sera
• Blocking agents that bind to ACE2 receptor
• ACE2 immunoadhesin strategy

Figure 2. COVID-19 targets discovery and application.

Ordering Process

The chief objective of global health efforts against COVID-19 remains to effectively quarantine patients and screen individuals who may be infected to limit spread. Creative Biostructure has dedicated to providing an advanced, complete and professional research services package targeting COVID-19 and established this platform to improve human health for novel vaccine/antibodies discovery. Please feel free to contact us for a detailed quote.

Based on the currently available research results on COVID-19 and our available resources and expertise, we established an advanced coronavirus service platform in structural biology, providing a wide range of contract research services in structure-based basic research, antiviral drug discovery, and vaccine development. Learn more about our integrated service platform based on structure for coronavirus research.

References:

1. Transmission of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) | CDC. 27 January 2020. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
2. Zhou, Peng; Yang, Xing-Lou; et al. (3 February 2020). A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature: 1–4. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. PMID 32015507. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
3. Huang, Pien (22 January 2020). How Does Wuhan Coronavirus Compare With MERS, SARS And The Common Cold?. NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
4. Robert L. Kruse. Therapeutic strategies in an outbreak scenario to treat the novel coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China. F1000Research 2020, 9:72. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.22211.2.