Recent findings about SARS-COV-2 virus have shown promising compounds that work by two distinct mechanisms, one is inhibiting viral cell entry to human cells and the other is inhibiting viral RNA replication and transcription process of the virus.
These findings are important for the development of potent antiviral molecules. Coincidentally, some of the reported compounds in the research have been also reported or suggested by other research groups. More importantly, some of these compounds are naturally available in our local surroundings. We believe that this is the beginning of a successful journey of the development of antiviral drugs against COVID 19 and other viruses of the same nature.
This research has been conducted by Dr. Daniel M. Shadrack of St. John’s University of Tanzania (SJUT) together with his team; Hulda S. Swai and John-Mary Vianney from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Geradius Deogratias and Stephen S. Nyandoro from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Lucy W. Kiruri from Kenyatta University (KU), Nairobi, Kenya, under the sponsorship of Centre for Research, Agricultural Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability (CREATES) hosted at the NM-AIST.
Dr. Daniel and his team’s study was titled: Ensemble-based screening of natural products and FDA-approved drugs identified potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 that work with two distinct mechanisms.
The paper is published in the Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modeling which can be accessed through: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1093326321000401
