IISC develops miniproteins that may prevent Covid-19 infection

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Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore have designed a new class of artificial peptides or miniproteins that they say can render viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive. According to the study, published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the miniproteins can not only block virus entry into our cells but also clump virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect.

In experiments carried out in the lab of Raghavan Varadarajan, professor at MBU, hamsters were dosed with the miniprotein, followed by exposure to SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19. These animals showed no weight loss and had greatly decreased viral load as well as much less cell damage in the lungs, compared to hamsters exposed only to the virus. The researchers noted that with minor modifications and peptide engineering, this lab-made miniprotein could inhibit other protein-protein interactions as well.

4,31,81,335
Total no of Coronavirus cases in India so far

5,24,701
Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far

25,782
Total no of active cases in India

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