Repurposing Drug Compound Could Slow COVID Spread_188体育app_188体育在线-平台官网

Robbin Ray ’82
Tue, 21 Jun 2022 12:15 -0400

Krisztina Varga, associate Professor of Molecular, cellular and Biomedical Sciences. Photo by Jeremy Gasowski. With the end of the pandemic seemingly nowhere in sight, scientists are still very focused on finding new or alternative drugs to treat and stop the spread of COVID-19. In a first-of-its-kind study, UNH researchers found that using an existing drug compound in a new way, known as drug repurposing, could be successful in blocking the activity of a key enzyme of the coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. “The goal was to slow or prevent the spread of the virus by using a strategic therapeutic that could possibly disrupt key steps in the viral life cycle at the molecular level, like the first contact with a healthy cell or the first step in replicating within an...