The spike glycoprotein of COVID-19 is fundamental in the life cicle of the virus, allowing virions to attach to host cell receptors. We analyzed the structure of this protein, which is composed of three monomers, searching for concave moieties located in the monomer-monomer interface regions. The presence of some druggable pockets in these locations suggests that known drug molecules could prevent the quaternary formation of the spike protein. A virtual screening procedure allowed to identify some of the compounds in the Drug Bank as interesting ligands for this purpose.

Publications

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications | A possible strategy to fight COVID-19: Interfering with spike glycoprotein trimerization