TRIBUNJABAR.ID – Good news, researchers have found weakness corona virus.
Researchers at the Bristol School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, England, managed to find a “drug bag” in the SARS-CoV-2 protein, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Researchers call the “drug bag” a weak point of the corona virus.
The findings can later be used as weapons, or anti-viral drugs to stop the virus from infecting the human body.
Research leader Professor Christiane Schaffitzel said SARS-CoV-2 was adorned with multiple copies of glycoproteins, known as spikes, which play an important role in viral infectivity.
Launched Eurekalert (21/09/2020, the spike binds to the surface of human cells, which makes it possible corona virus penetrate cells and start to replicate and cause extensive damage.
In this study, Christiane and Professor Imre Berger of the Max Planck-Bristol Center for Minimal Biology used the technique electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) to analyze the spikes of SARS-CoV-2 at a resolution close to atoms.
With a variety of methods, researchers can look more clearly into the spike to identify its molecular composition.
Unexpectedly, corona virus known to use so-called small molecules linoleic acid (LA) to tie itself up and spread.
LA is a free fatty acid that is indispensable for many cellular functions.
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