Researchers from Cornell University have identified a possible antiviral treatment for COVID-19 disease by studying the characteristics of two other coronaviruses: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). They focused on the fusion peptide of the spike protein, which is the mechanism that viruses use to infect cells.
As the current coronavirus pandemic exploded around the world, the researchers decided to compare the fusion peptides of SARS-CoV to the fusion peptides of the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and found a 93% match.
Membrane fusion is a cellular process that’s vital to a virus being able to spread. It happens when the components of two membranes become one; they share common features but have different proteins. As it pertains to viruses, membrane fusion begins when the virus realizes that it’s found the right kind of cell to infect by using the cell’s receptors to home in on the right cell type. The virus then uses the spike protein to attach to the cell receptor.
The next step to membrane fusion involves a piece of the spike protein, called the fusion peptide. The fusion peptide works on the host cell membrane and forms an opening in that membrane. The virus uses this opening as a portal for delivering its genome into the host cell so that it can reproduce.
The researchers found that calcium ions can affect the way that fusion peptides work in MERS and SARS. Because MERS, SARS, and SARS-CoV-2 are so similar, the researchers are going to investigate if calcium ions have the same effect on SARS-CoV-2.
The research team’s findings are published in the journal, Antiviral Research.