Frontiers in Microbiology (Jul 2020)

Therapeutic Strategies Against COVID-19 and Structural Characterization of SARS-CoV-2: A Review

  • Gi Uk Jeong,
  • Hanra Song,
  • Gun Young Yoon,
  • Doyoun Kim,
  • Young-Chan Kwon

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01723
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, or 2019-nCoV, which originated in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in December 2019, is a grave threat to public health worldwide. A total of 3,672,238 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 254,045 deaths were reported globally up to May 7, 2020. However, approved antiviral agents for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 remain unavailable. Drug repurposing of approved antivirals against other viruses such as HIV or Ebola virus is one of the most practical strategies to develop effective antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2. A combination of repurposed drugs can improve the efficacy of treatment, and structure-based drug design can be employed to specifically target SARS-CoV-2. This review discusses therapeutic strategies using promising antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2. In addition, structural characterization of potentially therapeutic viral or host cellular targets associated with COVID-19 have been discussed to refine structure-based drug design strategies.

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