Broad-spectrum drugs can help treat coronavirus and tick-borne encephalitis

Scientists from the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (IBC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences with colleagues from other Russian and foreign scientific organizations have synthesized 35 compounds that destroy the membranes of various enveloped viruses and are potentially capable of preventing the development of many infections.

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As a basis, the authors used a derivative of cyclic fluorine- and boron-containing substance BODIPY, which is able to penetrate the membranes of enveloped viruses. The researchers then attached iodine and bromine atoms to it, which enhance the production of reactive oxygen species that disrupt the integrity of viral particles.

"The compounds we synthesized can potentially be used in medicine in the therapy of surface viral infections," Vera Alferova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.

The researchers tested how the obtained substances affect coronavirus and tick-borne encephalitis virus. To do this, the authors used cell culture obtained from the kidney of a monkey, as well as human lung cancer cells.

After that, the researchers established the mechanism of action of the synthesized compounds. It turned out that the drugs directly inhibit the activity of viral particles before they penetrate into the cells.