Potential approaches to combat COVID-19: a mini-review
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MINI REVIEW ARTICLE
Potential approaches to combat COVID‑19: a mini‑review Zainab Sarwar1 · Tahir Ahmad1 · Salik Kakar1 Received: 29 June 2020 / Revised: 12 October 2020 / Accepted: 6 November 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The outbreak of a novel coronavirus namely SARS-CoV-2, which first emerged from Wuhan, China, has wreaked havoc not only in China but the whole world that now has been engulfed in its wrath. In a short lapse of time, this virus was successful in spreading at a blistering pace throughout the globe, hence raising the flag of pandemic status. The mounting number of deaths with each elapsing day has summoned researchers from all around the world to play their part in driving this SARSCoV-2 pandemic to an end. As of now, multiple research teams are immersed in either scrutinizing various antiviral drugs for their efficacy or developing different types of vaccines that will be capable of providing long-term immunity against this deadly virus. The mini-review sheds light on the possible approaches that can be undertaken to curb the COVID-19 spread. Possible strategies comprise viral vector-based, nucleic acid-based, protein-based, inactivated and weakened virus vaccines; COVID-19 vaccine being developed by deploying Hyleukin-7 technology; plant-based chimeric protein and subunit vaccines; humanized nano-bodies and human antibodies; intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusion therapy; inhibitors for ACE-2, Angiotensin 1 receptor (AT1R), complement system, viral proteins, host cell protease and endocytosis; shield immunity; IL-6R, NKG2A and hACE2-SARS-CoV-2-RBD interaction blocking monoclonal antibodies; SARS-CoV RdRp-based drugs, traditional Chinese medicine, repositioned and anti-viral drugs. These vaccines and drugs are currently being screened in the clinical trials as several of them have manifested positive results, hence increasing the probability of becoming one of the potential treatments for this disease. Keywords SARS-CoV-2 · COVID-19 · Epidemiology · Vaccines · Combat strategies · Approaches
Introduction From Wuhan, China, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first emerged out which is known to trigger acute respiratory diseases like lung failure and pneumonia [1, 2]. The causative factor of COVID-19 is identified as a novel coronavirus, which is now recognized as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [2]. SARS-CoV-2 has been classified as a betacoronavirus, belonging to the Coronaviridae family. Its characteristics include genome size of nearly 30 kb, bearing single-stranded, positive-sense RNA and an envelope. The entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the cell relies on glycoprotein - spike protein (S) which is present in each CoV. It is apparent that SARS-CoV-2 gains its access * Tahir Ahmad [email protected] 1
Atta‑ur‑Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
inside the cell through an enzyme that is amply expressed on the surface of the cell termed as ACE2 (Angiotensinconverti
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