Jia Xuan

Tropical Veterinary Medicine Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572024, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Molecular Medical Science, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/ijmms.2024.14.0008
Received: 29 Mar., 2024    Accepted: 03 Apr., 2024    Published: 09 Apr., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Xuan J., 2024, Innovative antiviral strategy targeting PL^pro: Discovery of Jun12682 and analysis of its antipandemic effects, International Journal of Molecular Medical Science, 14(1): 56-60 (doi: 10.5376/ijmms.2024.14.0008)

The paper "Design of a SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitor with antiviral efficacy in a mouse model," authored by Bin Tan, Xiaoming Zhang, Ahmadullah Ansari, Prakash Jadhav, et al., was published in Science on March 29, 2024. The authors are affiliated with Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, among others. This research focuses on a key enzyme of SARS-CoV-2, the papain-like protease (PL^pro), which plays a crucial role in the virus's replication and immune evasion mechanisms. Using a structure-guided approach, the research team designed a series of non-covalent PL^pro inhibitors. These inhibitors specifically target a newly discovered ubiquitin-binding site, Val70Ub, on PL^pro, demonstrating their antiviral activity in both in vitro and in vivo models. The lead compound, Jun12682, showed excellent antiviral effects in a mouse model, improving survival rates, and reducing pulmonary viral loads, offering a new strategic direction for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2.

Antiviral Strategy; PLpro; Jun12682; Antipandemic Effects