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Pocket feature shared by deadly coronaviruses could lead to pan-coronavirus antiviral treatment

Press release issued: 23 November 2022

Scientists have discovered why some coronaviruses are more likely to cause severe disease, which has remained a mystery, until now. Researchers of the University of Bristol-led study, published in Science Advances today [23 November], say their findings could lead to the development of a pan-coronavirus treatment to defeat all coronaviruses—from the 2002 SARS-CoV outbreak to Omicron, the current variant of SARS-CoV-2, as well as dangerous variants that may emerge in future.

The team say their findings suggest that the pocket, which binds a small molecule, linoleic acid—an essential fatty acid indispensable for many cellular functions including inflammation and maintaining cell membranes in the lungs so that we can breathe properly—could now be exploited to treat all deadly coronaviruses, at the same time rendering them vulnerable to a linoleic acid-based treatment targeting this pocket.    

Read the full University of Bristol story

'The free fatty acid-binding pocket is a conserved hallmark in pathogenic b-coronavirus spike proteins from SARS-CoV to Omicron' by C Toelzer et al. in Science Advances

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