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Post-Infection Entry Mechanism of Ricin A Chain-Pokeweed Antiviral Proteins (RTA-PAPs) Chimeras is Mediated by Viroporins

Hassan, Y.

2021-06-17 synthetic biology
10.1101/2021.06.17.448882 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The limitations of virus-specific antiviral drugs became apparent during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The search for broad range antiviral proteins of a new kind to answer current and future pandemics has become an even more pressing matter. Here, the author further describes the expected anti-SARS-CoV-2 mechanisms of a novel broad range antiviral chimeric protein constructed between ricin A chain and pokeweed antiviral proteins. The latest in protein-ligand docking software were used to determine binding affinity of RTA-PAPs to SARS-CoV-2 frameshift stimulation element and elucidate the preferential post-infection entry mechanisms of RTA-PAPs into virus infected cells over non-infected ones, by doing a comparative analysis between in vitro and in silico results on numerous viruses. The results obtained strongly suggest that the post-infection preferential entry of RTA-PAPs into infected cells is mediated by the presence of viroporins integrated into the host cell membrane. The discovery of this mechanism revealed RTA-PAPs, and proteins like them, to be a new class of broad range antivirals that target with high specificity viroporin producing viruses, and with gain of functions in antiviral activities, post-infection.

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