MABBI – Research conducted by Arli Aditya Parikesit, Arif Nur Muhammad Ansori, and Viol Dhea Kharisma from Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences, Professor Nidom Foundation and Generasi Biology Indonesia Foundation entitled A Computational Design of siRNA in SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein Gene and Its Binding Capability toward mRNA
COVID-19 pandemic has no immediate end in sight, and a significant increase in cases were observed worldwide. Currently, there are only two main strategies for developing COVID-19 drugs that predominantly use a proteomics-based approach, which are drug repurposing and herbal medicine strategies. However, a third strategy has existed, called small interfering RNA or siRNA, which is based on the transcriptomics approach. In the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, it is expected to perform by silencing the viral gene, which brings the surface glycoprotein (S) gene responsible for SARS-CoV-2 viral attachment to the ACE2 receptor on the human host cell. This third approach applies a molecular simulation method consisting of data retrieval, multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic tree depiction, 2D/3D structure prediction, and RNA-RNA molecular docking. The expected results are the prediction of 2D and 3D structures of both siRNA and mRNA silenced S genes along with a complex as the result of a docking method formed by those silenced genes. An Insilco chemical interaction study was performed in testing siRNA and mRNA complex’s stability with the confirmed result of a stable complex which is expected to be formed before the mRNA reaches the ribosome for the translation process. Thus, siRNA from the S gene could be considered a candidate for the COVID-19 therapeutic agent. (Tri/MABBI)
Read more: https://doi.org/10.22146/ijc.68415
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