The peptide-based drugs developed by researchers at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia are being tested in hamsters at France’s pre-clinical and clinical research facility, IDMIT.

Early promising results, published in the journal Nature Cell Discovery, show the drugs are not toxic, and have few side effects.

The drugs are also stable and can be stored at room temperature, which would make them easy to distribute, the researchers said.

They target how human cells respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, instead of the virus itself.

The first peptide-based drug would be given before exposure to the virus and help boost the efficacy of vaccines, while the second drug would stop the spread of the virus in already infected cells.

The discovery of the peptide-based drugs was made possible after the researchers uncovered a previously unknown mode of entry that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, exploits to invade cells and cause COVID-19 disease.

Laboratory tests show the first peptide-based drug reduces infection by cloaking the ACE2 receptor protein on human cells.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein uses the ACE2 receptor to bind to and invade cells.

The virus then latches onto the cloaking peptides, which they mistake for human cells, preventing infection.

The lab tests have also shown that if the virus finds its way into cells, the second peptide-drug can block how the virus hijacks the host cell and replicates, according to the researchers.

It also boosts the immune system’s ability to recognise the virus, they said.

Senior researcher and Professor, Sudha Rao, said the team was able to develop the drugs after discovering that some people have a chemical tag which acts like a padlock on the ACE2 receptor.

“The tag can either keep the receptor locked or open — controlling infection. This means people who have the ‘padlock-like’ tag on their ACE2 receptors will be less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and those without the tag are more vulnerable to infection,” Rao said.

“Our drugs stop the tag from being removed and also protect the untagged ACE2 receptors from being infected,” she explained.

The researchers also found that if the virus invaded the cells it would unlock the tag from the inside, allowing more efficient virus replication.

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Entamoeba histolytica is the third-leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to parasitic disease in humans. It causes amoebiasis or amoebic dysentery, which is highly prevalent in developing countries. A team of researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has developed new drug molecules against the protozoa that causes amoebiasis.

This protozoan is anaerobic or micro-aerophilic in nature such that it cannot survive high concentrations of oxygen. However, during infection, it faces a high surge of oxygen inside the human body. The organism synthesizes large amounts of cysteine to counter oxidative stress.

This pathogen deploys cysteine as one of the essential molecules in its defence mechanism against high oxygen levels. Entamoeba expresses two crucial enzymes for synthesizing cysteine. Researchers from JNU has characterized and determined the molecular structures of both these crucial enzymes. “We have also successfully screened for potent inhibitors for one of the enzymes, O-acetyl L-serine sulfhydrylase (OASS). Some of these inhibitors can check the growth of this organism with high efficacy,” said Prof. Samudrala Gourinath, lead researcher, School of Life Sciences, JNU, while speaking with India Science Wire.

“Cysteine biosynthesis is crucial for the survival of E. histolytica and may be similar protozoan parasites. These can be targeted by inhibiting their pathways, which we have successfully done. The identified molecules can be lead to the development of drug molecules” said Dr Gourinath.

The research team includes Sudhaker Dharavath, Ramachandran Vijayan, Khushboo Kumari, and Priya Tomar. The study has been published in the journal European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

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