HUAWEI CLOUD has formed a joint research team with several medical colleges and research institutes, including the School of Basic Medicine and the Sixth Clinical School of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Beijing Institute of Genomics of Chinese Academy of Sciences. After the team completed the computer-aided screening of 8,506 drugs for Mpro target proteins, they continued drug screening for NSP16 target proteins.

The joint research team published new evidence that Saquinavir and Lopinavir can suppress SARS-CoV-2. Both drugs can inhibit the activity of NSP16 methyltransferase, thereby suppressing the function and replication of the virus.

Methylation of DNA by the NSP16 protein can help the virus evade the natural immune system defenses of the host. Therefore, designing an inhibitor for NSP16 can effectively inhibit the replication of the virus.

The drug screening results for NSP16 showed that Saquinavir ranked first and Lopinavir eighth as inhibitors. The two drugs also ranked second and fourth in the screening results of Mpro target proteins, indicating that they could bind well not only with NSP16 proteins of the SARS-CoV-2, but also with Mpro proteins.

In previous technical interpretations, we found that Saquinavir and Lopinavir can inhibit the activity of Mpro proteins. Saquinavir itself can bind well not only with the Mpro protein, but also with the S-protein of the SARS-CoV-2, thereby preventing the binding of the S-protein with the ACE2 receptor. As a result, the virus can be prevented from spreading both inside and on the surface of the cell.

According to the latest reports, the combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir used as a treatment for AIDS has been effective at alleviating symptoms of COVID-19 in Japan; a combination of Lopinavir, Ritonavir, and Oseltamivir has successfully cured COVID-19 patients in Thailand.

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