Research led by Michael J. Hannon from the University of Birmingham, UK, finds metallo-supramolecular helicates (cylinders) binding to untranslated regions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) suppresses viral replication. The untranslated regions (UTR) of the viral genome could serve as drug targets for antiviral treatment.
The study “Supramolecular cylinders target bulge structures in the 5’ UTR of the RNA genome of SARS-CoV-2 and inhibit viral replication” is available as a preprint on the bioRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review.
