Molecular Structure of SARS-CoV-2 Virus and the Proposed Related Drugs
Authors:   Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran., Hojabr Rajeooni Ali , Mehrbod Parvaneh ,   Influenza and Respiratory Viruses Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Published: May 2021

Background and Aim: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the most important viral diseases in the current decade which has caused widespread crisis worldwide. The disease was first reported on December 8, 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in the patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. On January 8, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in China identified the virus, and it was named 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization (WHO). The name of the disease was later changed to COVID-19. According to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, the virus is called SARS-CoV-2 which belongs to the family of Coronaviridae. The viruses of this family have caused outbreaks in several countries (SARS in 2003 and MERS in 2013) which have led to death and economic loss. Methods & Materials: In this review study, COVID-19 was studied from various aspects including evolutionary process and molecular biology of its virus. The selected articles were examined based on the information available in the WHO database. SARS-CoV-2 proteins were identified molecularly and functionally using data analysis and bioinformatics methods, and then related drugs and their effects on virus replication and inhibition were investigated. Ethical Considerations: All ethical principles were observed in this study. Results: Studies on the structure of SARS-CoV-2 and drug therapies to inhibit the disease progression showed that the use of different pharmaceutical strategies is effective in treating COVID-19 depending on the progression of the disease. Molecular studies showed that the use of nucleoside analogues and protease inhibitors is effective in the course of the disease and intravenous immunoglobulin, aminoquinoline compounds, TMPRSS2 inhibitors and viral S protein can be effective in the early stages of disease. Conclusion: In order to control COVID-19, it is very important to study the structure of SARS-CoV-2 virus and its biology in the body. It is essential to identify the drugs that affect the virus based on its biological structure. Due to the structural changes of the virus and successive mutations in the virus genome as well as the emergence of resistant strains or highly contagious strains, further studies on the structure of SARS-CoV-2 and its changes in the body are recommended for designing pharmaceutical and therapeutic strategies. These strategies varies according to the stage of the disease, such that some drugs prevent the virus from entering the target cells in the early stages of the disease and other drugs, in combination with the virus’ surface glycoproteins, prevent the virus antigen from binding to receptors in the host cells. In the late stages of the disease, antiviral drugs including protease inhibitors and nucleoside analogues, interfere with the replication and structure of the virus. Due to intermittent changes in the virus and the development of drug-resistant viruses, it is important to continuously review virological and clinical studies and the performance of existing drugs against SARS-CoV-2.