If and how a corona drug can be developed from these phenols is subject to further studies." However, drinking green tea will not cure your corona infection! Like it will not heal your wounds or cure your cancer. "These compounds naturally occur in many foods. "The advantage of these substances is their proven safety," says Betzel, who is also a member of the cluster of excellence CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter. In subsequent lab tests, established and performed by Hévila Brognaro in Betzel's group, the three phenols reduced PLpro's activity by 50 to 70 per cent in living cells. Methyldihydroxybenzoate (HE9), isolated from the French marigold Tagetes patula, is an anti-oxidant with anti-inflammatory effect and is found in green tea. It was isolated from the copperleaf Acalypha torta. Hydroxybenzaldehyde (HBA) is a known anti-tumor agent and accelerates wound healing. The screening showed that three phenols bind to the enzyme: hydroxyethylphenol (YRL), isolated for the experiments from the henna tree Lawsonia alba, is a compound present in many foods such as red wine and virgin olive oil and used as anti-arrhythmia agent. "From this information we can produce 3-dimensional models of the enzyme with atomic resolution and see if and where a substance binds to it," explains Meents. When illuminated with the bright X-rays from PETRA III at the experimental station P11, the crystals produced a characteristic diffraction pattern from which the structure of the enzyme can be reconstructed down to the level of individual atoms. Instead, tiny crystals were grown from the mixtures. It is not possible to see if a substance binds to the enzyme with a conventional light microscope. With inhibiting PL pro we can also enhance the cell's immune response."įor the experiments, PL pro was mixed with each of the 500 natural substances in a solution, giving them the chance to bind to the enzyme. "It blocks a protein of the immune system, called ISG15, and that severely weakens the cell's self-defense. "However, PL pro has another vital function for the virus," says Srinivasan. If this process is blocked, the proteins cannot assemble new virus particles. PL pro then acts like a molecular pair of scissors, cutting the proteins from the string. These proteins are manufactured as a long string. The papain-like protease (PL pro) is a vital enzyme for virus replication: When a cell is hijacked by the coronavirus, it is forced to produce building blocks for new virus particles. "A compound that binds to the enzyme at the right place can stop it from working." "We tested 500 substances from the Karachi Library of Natural Compounds if they bind to the papain-like protease of the novel coronavirus, which is one of the main targets for an antiviral drug," explains the study's main author Vasundara Srinivasan from the University of Hamburg.
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