Quercetin, here is the natural molecule that faces Sars-Cov-2
An international study involving the CNR Institute of Nanotechnology found that quercetin acts as a specific inhibitor for the virus responsible for Covid-19. All the details
How to naturally fight the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, responsible for Covid-19?
The development of a vaccine is certainly the most radical solution to solve this problem and the first results in this sense are encouraging, but there are also other weapons available to fight a viral pandemic, underlines a note from the CNR .
The development of specific antiviral drugs for the coronavirus is therefore another major line of research to solve the Covid-19 pandemic.
THE DISCOVERY ON THE NATURAL MOLECULE QUERCETINA
In this context fits the "new discovery that demonstrates that quercetin, a molecule of natural origin, functions as a specific inhibitor for SARS-CoV-2", underlines the National Research Council.
This molecule has a destabilizing effect on 3CLpro, one of the main proteins of the virus, essential for its development and whose blocking of enzymatic activity is lethal for SARS-CoV-2.
RESEARCH BY CNR-NANOTEC
The result – remarks the Cnr – "is the result of the research work conducted by Bruno Rizzuti of the Nanotechnology Institute of the National Research Council (Cnr-Nanotec) of Cosenza with a group of researchers from Zaragoza and Madrid and was published in the journal International journal of biological macromolecules ".
WHAT DOES QUERCETIN DO AGAINST CORONAVIRUS
"Computer simulations showed that quercetin binds exactly to the active site of the 3CLpro protein, preventing it from performing its function properly," says Rizzuti, author of the computational part of the study. “Already at the moment this molecule is on par with the best antivirals available against the coronavirus, none of which, however, is approved as a drug. Quercetin has a number of original and interesting properties from a pharmacological point of view: it is present in abundance in common vegetables such as capers, red onion and radicchio and is known for its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti -proliferative. Its pharmacokinetic properties are also known and it is well tolerated by humans ".
STARTING BASE FOR AN EVEN MORE POWERFUL MOLECULE OF SYNTHESIS
Furthermore, quercetin can be easily modified to develop an even more powerful synthesis molecule, thanks to the small size and particular functional groups present in its chemical structure. Since it cannot be patented, anyone can use it as a starting point for new research.
"The study starts from an experimental characterization of 3CLpro, the main protease of SARS-CoV-2", explains Olga Abian, of the University of Zaragoza and first author of the publication: "This protein has a dimeric structure, formed by two sub- identical units, each with an active site essential for its biological activity. In a first phase of the work, the sensitivity to various conditions of temperature and pH was studied with various experimental techniques: an important result because many groups are working on 3CLpro as a possible pharmacological target, by virtue of the fact that it is strongly conserved in all. the types of coronaviruses. For this protein, molecules have already been reported in the literature that act as inhibitors, but cannot be used as drugs due to their side effects ".
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO IDENTIFY INHIBITING MOLECULES
"The most interesting part of this work is the experimental screening performed on 150 compounds, thanks to which quercetin was identified as an active molecule on 3CLpro", concludes Adrian Velazquez-Campoy of the University of Zaragoza, who directed the research group and has previously worked on finding protein inhibitory drugs for the original SARS virus that caused the 2003 outbreak. “Quercetin reduces the enzymatic activity of 3CLpro due to its destabilizing effect on the protein. Obviously we expect a vaccine to be found, but the drugs will still be necessary for people already infected and for those who cannot be vaccinated. The search for new molecules therefore aims to administer a combination of different compounds, to minimize drug resistance and the development of new viral strains ". The study was supported by the Fundación hna.
Figures 1 and 2: two different angles showing the molecular complex formed by quercetin (in orange) bound in the cavity that constitutes the active site of the 3CLpro protease (in blue), in the most favorable position to inhibit the protein and block the replication of the coronavirus .
Figure 2
Figure 1
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/quercetina-ecco-la-molecola-naturale-che-fronteggia-sars-cov-2/ on Thu, 03 Sep 2020 05:40:16 +0000.