University of Idaho Works to Develop Cure for COVID-19

The Department of Biological Sciences team expects to finish preliminary tests within a year. Researchers will also develop a pipeline for identifying drugs that block viruses from infecting human cells. The project is funded with $100,000 from a National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant issued to U of I Department of Physics Professor Marty Ytreberg. The EPSCoR funds were provided to determine how amino acid changes modify the way proteins interact with other molecules.

The team includes molecular modeling specialist Jagdish Patel, a research assistant professor; virologist Paul Rowley, an assistant professor; and evolutionary biologist JT Van Leuven, a research assistant professor. The research is being conducted within the Institute for Modeling Collaboration and Innovation, University of Idaho’s multidisciplinary, collaborative research program that houses biomedical research modeling experts.

“Funding agencies are giving leeway to researchers with existing grants to shuttle resources toward the COVID pandemic. We decided this was a good investment, because it has the potential to lead to a therapeutic and fits within the theme of the grant.”

The team hopes to create a drug that shields human cells rather than attacks viruses. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) virus is shaped like a ball with spikes on the surface as shown in widely-used photos. The spike proteins have evolved to dock with a specific protein — called the ACE2 receptor — on the surface of human cells. The attachment of the spike protein to ACE2 begins the infection process by which the virus transfers genetic material to the cell. This genetic material tricks the cell into generating more virus.

Read the full story from University of Idaho here.