The researcher at the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio (mixed center Universitat de València-CSIC) Ron Geller leads three COVID projects in the field of therapies related to antivirals, antibodies and immunomodulatory molecules. These three initiatives, which have a total budget of 600,000 euros (230,000 for the I2SysBio group), are part of the eight research projects investigating the coronavirus led by I2SysBio, which have received the support of the Generalitat and the CSIC-CRUE-Santander, and in which other institutions also participate.

“SARS-CoV-2 has caused more than 2 million of deaths and 100 million infections in less than a year. It has significantly altered our way of living and has affected everyone, from young children to the elderly. In the laboratory, we are trying to better understand immunity against this virus by examining the neutralization of antibodies and identifying new means to block the virus to use it as therapy,” highlights Ron Geller, Ramón y Cajal researcher and director of the Viral Biology group at elI²SysBio.

The “COVID-19: anti-infective and anti-inflammatory action of the immunomodulatory parasite molecules in a safe-to-use synthetic format” project is an initiative that seeks to exploit the potential of the Fasciola hepaticaparasite and its molecules to modulate the entry routes and inflammation pathways relevant in COVID-19. Mar Siles, from the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA), the University of Córdoba and the National University of Ireland, as well as the virologist Rafael Sanjuan from I²SysBio, also participate in this project.

The BlockAce initiative applies a multidisciplinary approach to identify inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding and entry through the combined use of knowledge from medicinal chemistry, biology computational chemistry, structural biology and virology. Also part of this project are María Jesús Pérez, from the Institute of Medicinal Chemistry (IQM), the Margarita Salas Biological Research Center (CIB) and the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (IBV).

“For these different projects, we have analyzed more than 500 different compounds and more than 50 protein-based inhibitors from numerous collaborating institutions to search for new means to block the virus's ability to enter cells. From these experiments, we have identified several promising drug candidates that They effectively block the virus and are not toxic to cells,” says Geller.

Likewise, Geller explains that “in terms of understanding antibody responses, we have examined the association between the severity of the disease in hospitalized patients and the ability of blood antibodies to block the virus. In addition, we have evaluated the extent to which the results of rapid antigen tests, which are applied on a large scale to the population, correlate with the neutralization of antibodies necessary to effectively block the disease. Finally, we have examined whether different mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein that have appeared during the pandemic reduce the ability of antibodies in the serum of recovered individuals to block the virus. antibodies.

Project links:

COVID-19: action anti-infective and anti-inflammatory of the immunomodulatory parasite molecules in a synthetic format for safe use (uv.es)

BlockAce (uv.es)

ANTICOR (uv.es)