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COVID-19: Advances in Pathophysiology and Therapeutics

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 506

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: HIV, sepsis; COVID-19; multi-drug-resistant pathogens; urogenital infections; immunology of infection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While the official pandemic status of COVID-19 may have concluded, the impact of the disease, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is far from over. In fact, there are ongoing lessons to be learned and areas of research yet to be explored. The complexity of the disease, from its intricate pathophysiology and wide array of clinical presentations to the multiple therapeutic options available, continues to challenge the medical community. This Special Issue aims to serve as a comprehensive platform for the latest research findings that explore the advances in understanding the pathophysiology and developing new therapeutic interventions for COVID-19.

The objectives of this Special Issue are as follows: firstly, to collate research articles, reviews, and case reports that contribute to an evolving understanding of the immunological mechanisms specific to COVID-19; secondly, to feature evidence-based, clinically relevant updates on available treatment modalities and explore the current pharmacological landscape; and lastly, to facilitate a multidisciplinary discussion that aligns research outcomes with practical clinical applications, including the management of COVID-19 and its associated comorbid conditions.

Topics of interest may include:

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and immune response underlying COVID-19;

Emerging therapeutic avenues and translational research findings that translate into clinical practice;

Biomarkers for disease severity and prognosis;

Advances in antiviral agents, monoclonal antibodies, and other pharmacotherapeutics;

Therapeutic management of comorbid conditions in COVID-19 patients;

Evaluations on the efficacy of existing and novel treatments.

Dr. Karolina Akinosoglou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • pathophysiology
  • immunology
  • pharmacotherapy
  • biomarkers
  • comorbidities
  • clinical management
  • disease severity
  • treatment efficacy

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1944 KiB  
Article
Development of a Biosafety Level 1 Cellular Assay for Identifying Small-Molecule Antivirals Targeting the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2: Evaluation of Cellular Activity of GC376, Boceprevir, Carmofur, Ebselen, and Selenoneine
by Yasunori Fukumoto, Noriyuki Suzuki, Reina Hara, Yu-ki Tanaka and Yasumitsu Ogra
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(11), 5767; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25115767 - 25 May 2024
Viewed by 276
Abstract
While research has identified several inhibitors of the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, a significant portion of these compounds exhibit reduced activity in the presence of reducing agents, raising concerns about their effectiveness in vivo. Furthermore, the conventional biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) for [...] Read more.
While research has identified several inhibitors of the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, a significant portion of these compounds exhibit reduced activity in the presence of reducing agents, raising concerns about their effectiveness in vivo. Furthermore, the conventional biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) for cellular assays using viral particles poses a limitation for the widespread evaluation of Mpro inhibitor efficacy in a cell-based assay. Here, we established a BSL-1 compatible cellular assay to evaluate the in vivo potential of Mpro inhibitors. This assay utilizes mammalian cells expressing a tagged Mpro construct containing N-terminal glutathione S-transferase (GST) and C-terminal hemagglutinin (HA) tags and monitors Mpro autodigestion. Using this method, GC376 and boceprevir effectively inhibited Mpro autodigestion, suggesting their potential in vivo activity. Conversely, carmofur and ebselen did not exhibit significant inhibitory effects in this assay. We further investigated the inhibitory potential of selenoneine on Mpro using this approach. Computational analyses of binding energies suggest that noncovalent interactions play a critical role in facilitating the covalent modification of the C145 residue, leading to Mpro inhibition. Our method is straightforward, cost-effective, and readily applicable in standard laboratories, making it accessible to researchers with varying levels of expertise in infectious diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Advances in Pathophysiology and Therapeutics)
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