New breakthrough in drug target research of Zika virus by Chinese scientists

The research team, led by Professor Yang Haitao of Tianjin University and Professor Zhu Xiaoyun of Nanjing University, recently made an important breakthrough in revealing the key drug targets of Zika virus, and successfully resolved the three-dimensional structure of the atomic resolution level of the ns2b-ns3pro protease complex of Zika virus The protease complex plays a key role in the whole life cycle of Zika virus This study laid an important structural foundation for the development of specific drugs for the treatment of Zika virus Relevant research results have been published online in the academic journal Cell Research published by natural publishing group Nature, the group's flagship publication, is one of the most important scientific research journals in the world The ns2b-ns3pro protease complex of Zika virus is a key target of antiviral drugs Because only after the protease complex is activated and a series of hydrolysis reactions are completed, the virus can start the replication process Researchers have successfully analyzed the crystal structure of Zika virus ns2b-ns3pro protease complex, revealing the key molecular mechanism of viral protease activation "Ns2b-ns3pro protease complex is like a 'small scissors' When it is activated, it will' cut off 'a long chain protein related to virus replication After the separation of multiple protein' small units' are assembled, it can start virus replication." Chen Xia, a member of the research team and a doctoral student from the school of life sciences, Tianjin University, said, "what we want to achieve is to inhibit the protease, and not let it be activated and play a role." Using the protease complex as a drug target, scientists have successfully screened an effective inhibitor called aprotinin Aprotinin is a kind of clinical medicine and is used to stop bleeding in operation It has a good inhibitory effect on the protease activity of Zika virus, and the discovery of the inhibitor will be helpful for the further development of anti Zika virus drugs In addition, we also found that Zika virus protease has a special "self inhibition" state According to this, scientists have proposed a new antiviral drug design strategy - if a compound can be designed to lock the viral protease in the "self inhibition state", it will lead to the enzyme can not be activated, and ultimately achieve the purpose of inhibiting virus replication According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, Zika virus has spread to more than 60 countries and regions Zika virus infection can not only cause microcephaly, but also cause Guillain Barre syndrome The latter is a serious nervous system disease, which can lead to paralysis or even death.