X-ray lightsource at DESY identifies promising candidates for COVID drugs
Electron density map of the most antiviral active ingredient calpeptin (yellow) binding at the main protease. © DESY/Sebastian Günther
At DESY's high-brilliance X-ray light source PETRA III, a team from more than 30 research institutions has identified several candidates for active substances against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. They bind to an important protein of the virus and could thus be the basis for a drug against Covid-19. The MX team from HZB examined part of the measurement data with special analysis algorithms in order to identify suitable active substances. The study has now been published in the renowned journal Science.
In a so-called X-ray screening, the researchers, under the leadership of DESY, tested almost 6000 known active substances that already exist for the treatment of other diseases in a short amount of time. After measuring about 7000 samples, the team was able to identify a total of 37 substances that bind to the main protease (Mpro) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as the scientists report online today in the journal Science. Seven of these substances inhibit the activity of the protein and thus slow down the multiplication of the virus. Two of them do this so promisingly that they are currently under further investigation in preclinical studies. This drug screening – probably the largest of its kind – also revealed a new binding site on the main protease of the virus to which drugs can couple.
“The active substances Calpeptin and Pelitinib clearly showed the highest antivirality with good cell compatibility. Our cooperation partners have therefore already started preclinical investigations with these two substances,” explains DESY researcher Sebastian Günther, first author of the Science publication.
In addition to DESY scientists, researchers from the Universities of Hamburg and Lübeck, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, the Heinrich Pette Institute, the European XFEL, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory EMBL, the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and other institutions are involved in the work.
Note: This is a shortened version of the full text of the press release published at DESY Website.
- Five Berlin-based research institutions join forces in data-driven materials researchResearch data is regarded as key to materials research in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Five Berlin-based research institutions have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish long-term collaboration in the fields of research data, data infrastructures and AI.
- Green hydrogen with PEC electrolysers: New insights into transport processesOne method of storing solar energy is to use PEC electrolysers to produce hydrogen. However, scaling up this technology remains challenging. Now, a team at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels has used 2D fluorescence imaging and particle velocimetry to observe the movement of ions and dissolved gases within the electrolyte during electrolysis. These new insights may prove useful in the development of larger PEC electrolysers.
- New contact material boosts the efficiency of perovskite solar cellsA newly developed material for the electron contact improves the efficiency of single perovskite solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. The new material is based on a carborane molecule. It offers several advantages over the standard material C60, as shown by the study led by Steve Albrecht’s team. The new material has since been patented and is already commercially available.