Chen Yisa, Xue Yiying, Yang Jing
Department of Haematology, Tongji Hospital, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Disease Research, Frontier Science Center for Stem Cell Research, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Technology, Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China.
J Med Virol. 2023 Mar;95(3):e28592. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28592.
The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is an ongoing infection outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel positive single-stranded, enveloped RNA virus belonging to the genus Betacoronavirus. During the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 subvariants evolved rapidly with enhanced transmissibility, and became a global public health threat as its alarmingly rising rate of infection led to excessive mortality. According to the WHO data, COVID-19 caused more than 6 million deaths and affected 215 countries. Although vaccines are beneficial for preventing hospitalization, reducing severe illness and deaths from COVID-19, the constantly mutated Spike protein under high selection pressure leading to off-target or immune evasion which warrants additional therapeutic strategies. Therefore, it is important to identify and test potential therapeutic targets against proteins that are highly conserved among multiple coronaviruses for clinical drug development to combat SARS-COV-2. While research for new therapies continues, the cost-effective and rapid repurposing of existing therapeutics may provide a viable treatment alternative for COVID-19.
冠状病毒病-19（COVID-19）是由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的持续感染暴发，SARS-CoV-2是一种新型的正链单股、包膜RNA病毒，属于β冠状病毒属。在疫情大流行期间，SARS-CoV-2亚变体迅速进化，传播力增强，其惊人的感染率导致过高的死亡率，成为全球公共卫生威胁。根据世界卫生组织的数据，COVID-19已导致超过600万人死亡，并影响了215个国家。尽管疫苗有助于预防住院治疗，减少COVID-19导致的重症和死亡，但在高选择压力下不断变异的刺突蛋白会导致脱靶或免疫逃逸，这就需要额外的治疗策略。因此，识别和测试针对多种冠状病毒中高度保守的蛋白质的潜在治疗靶点，对于开发对抗SARS-CoV-2的临床药物至关重要。在继续研究新疗法的同时，对现有疗法进行具有成本效益的快速重新利用，可能为COVID-19提供一种可行的治疗选择。
