Sofosbuvir as a potential alternative to treat the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic

Abstract As of today, there is no antiviral for the treatment of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the development of a vaccine might take several months or even years. The structural superposition of the hepatitis C virus polymerase bound to sofosbuvir, a nucleoside analog antiviral approved for hepati...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rodrigo Jácome, José Alberto Campillo-Balderas, Samuel Ponce de León, Arturo Becerra, Antonio Lazcano
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Nature Portfolio 2020
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/27f5e92cc72e48598ae0a79c08b15f67
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Summary:Abstract As of today, there is no antiviral for the treatment of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the development of a vaccine might take several months or even years. The structural superposition of the hepatitis C virus polymerase bound to sofosbuvir, a nucleoside analog antiviral approved for hepatitis C virus infections, with the SARS-CoV polymerase shows that the residues that bind to the drug are present in the latter. Moreover, a multiple alignment of several SARS-CoV-2, SARS and MERS-related coronaviruses polymerases shows that these residues are conserved in all these viruses, opening the possibility to use sofosbuvir against these highly infectious pathogens.