– This is precisely the most important protein among the many identified, the one that companies searching for an ultra-fast diagnostic test speak about mysteriously – Prof. Marcin Drąg of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, winner of the 2019 FNP Award in the field of chemical and materials sciences, says of the enzyme studied. This research is also becoming the basis for the search for a drug for COVID-19.
As we read on the dziennik.pl website:
The enzyme studied by the team – the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro protease – cuts proteins found in the virus. “This enables it to survive. Inhibiting this enzyme’s activity immediately causes the virus to die,” the scientist explains.
Prof. M. Drąg in an interview with PAP:
What we have published now is one of the most important pieces of information one can have about this enzyme. It is its full substrate preference.
We can say whether these are large, small, hydrophobic or basic amino acids. We can also create a map of the enzyme’s most important site and match drugs already on the market to it.