Molecular mechanisms and pharmacological interventions in the replication cycle of human coronaviruses

• Autor(a) principal: Simabuco, Fernando
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Tamura, Rodrigo, Pavan, Isadora Carolina Betim, Morale, Mirian, Ventura, Armando
• Tipo de documento: preprint
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: SciELO Preprints
• Texto Completo: https://preprints.scielo.org/index.php/scielo/preprint/view/1045
• topic: coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; viral replication; RNA virus

SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2), as well as SARS-CoV from 2003 and MERS-CoV from 2012, is a member of the Betacoronavirus genus of the Nidovirales order and is currently the cause of the pandemic called COVID-19 (or Coronavirus disease 2019). COVID-19 is characterized by cough, fever, fatigue, and severe cases of pneumonia and has affected more than 9.1 million people worldwide until June 22nd, 2020. Here we present a review of the cellular mechanisms associated with human coronaviruses replication, including the unique molecular events related to the replication transcription complex (RTC) of coronaviruses. Information regarding the interactions between each viral protein and cellular proteins is presented, associating to known host-pathogen implications for the coronavirus biology. Finally, a specific topic addresses the current attempts for pharmacological interventions against COVID-19, highlighting the possible effects of each drug on the molecular events of viral replication. This review intends to contribute to future studies for a better understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 replication cycle and the development of pharmacological approaches targeting COVID-19.