Discovered drug against Mers and Sars

Bernese researchers discover antiviral drug against Sars and Mers

05/30/2014

Sars and Mers pathogens are among the dangerous coronaviruses. Often an infection leads to the death of the patient. In Saudi Arabia, 147 people have died of Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). A research team from Bern discovered in cooperation with Swedish scientists, now an active ingredient that attacks coronaviruses and prevents their reproduction.

Active substance inhibits the proliferation of Sars and Mers
Sars and Mers cause severe respiratory symptoms, including fatal pneumonia and kidney failure. So far, there are no specific drugs against the dangerous pathogens. Thus, about 40 percent of Mers patients died. Austrian and Swedish researchers have recently made a breakthrough in the search for inhibitors of coronaviruses. The team led by Prof. Volker Thiel from the University of Bern and Prof. Edward Trybala from the University of Gothenburg discovered the substance K22. Initially, the researchers assumed that K22 works only against rather harmless coronaviruses, which lead to mild cold symptoms. Later in the study, however, it has been shown that the substance is also effective against dangerous Sars and Mers pathogens by preventing the proliferation of viruses in the cells lining the human respiratory tract.

To replicate, the coronaviruses needed the membranes that divide human cells into separate areas. These use the pathogens as a kind of scaffold for the „virus factory“. K22 prevents this process. „The extraordinary efficiency with which K22 inhibits virus replication confirms that the viruses are vulnerable to virus proliferation when reshaping cellular membranes“, explains Thiel. According to the authors of the study, this process is the „Achilles heel of the viral life cycle“.

„We believe that this mode of action may serve as a pattern for the development of potent antiviral drugs against many animal and human viral infections“, write the authors in the journal „PLOS pathogens“, in which the study was published.

„However, an important lesson from the recent Sars and current Mers epidemics is the urgent need to invest funds in the development of efficient medicines - so that we can be better prepared for coronavirus outbreaks in the future and treat these infections“, Thiel. (Ag)