A study led by the University of Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council's Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC - CSIC) presents a new therapeutic tool capable of inhibiting the proliferation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The results open up new perspectives in the fight against this coronavirus and other viral diseases that still have no medical treatment, such as the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHFV).
The paper, published on The Journal of Biological Chemistry, is led by experts Carlos J. Ciudad and Verónica Noé, from the UB's Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN²UB), in collaboration with Ramon Eritja and Anna Aviñó, from the CSIC's IQAC and the Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBER-BBN). Researchers Miguel Chillón, from the Institute of Neuroscience of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (INc - UAB) and Noemí Sevilla and José Manuel Rojas, from the Animal Health Research Centre (CISA - CSIC) have also played an important role. The study has also received the support of La Marató de TV3 2020, dedicated to promoting research against COVID-19.
Polypurine hairpins to inhibit the virus that causes COVID-19
In May 2023, the World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19 pandemic was no longer a global emergency. However, many people worldwide are still infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The new methodology is based on the ability of molecules known as Polypurine Reverse Hoogsteen Hairpins (PPRH) to slow the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This is the first scientific paper to describe how PPRH can act as a therapeutic agent and inhibit the growth of a pathogenic virus.
