Everyone remembers the [acr=Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome]SARS[/acr] virus from last year and there were fears of a global outbreak of the virus and there is still that risk that there could be one.

 

Thankfully we may have the start of a cure in the form of an inhibitor. Scientists at The Scripps Research center have identified a group of enzymes that prevent the SARS virus from replicating, this may lead to the creation of a drug that can be used to treat people with the SARS virus and also may provide a base for preventing infection in the first place!

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060329084135.htm

 

- Ryan Jones

i was working at peking university in beijing as a foreign expert in protein crystallography at the time of the SARS outbreak. the same day that the causative agent was recognised to be a coronoavirus, i looked at the structure of the protease and later i discussed possible inhibitors with scientists in beijing, because the year before i had worked on a similar crystal structures. however, perhaps my greatest contribution to SARS research was suggesting that it was very unwise for medical students to perform autopsies on individuals who lost their lifes to SARS.

 

as with all viruses, initial attention focuses on their essential protease.

however i am a bit disappointed though that are sticking with benzotriazole-based drugs first identified in 2003, because benzatriazole is nasty, and also the research has not made it into a journal with a significant medical or virological status.

 

for those interested, if you look into the literature, it is possible to find a number of protease inhibitors that can cause SARS like symptoms.