Computer-aided identification and synthesis of novel broad-spectrum antiviral agents

计算机辅助药物设计技术和合成有机化学方法的结合将用于识别和合成新的广谱抗病毒治疗，以小分子化合物的形式，用于由冠状病毒，新世界沙粒病毒（NWA）和肠道病毒引起的不同病毒感染。冠状病毒是导致SARS、MERS和COVID-19等致命人类疾病的罪魁祸首。第二类病毒与人类致命的出血热疾病有关，而第三类病毒则造成许多严重的疾病，特别是幼儿的疾病，在所有情况下，都已确定了发展广谱疗法的适当目标。这些目标将通过一系列计算机分析进行研究，这将指导新化合物的设计和合成，能够干扰这些蛋白质的基本功能，从而削弱病毒的生命周期。

A combination of computer-aided drug design techniques and synthetic organic chemistry methods will be used to identify and synthesise novel broad-spectrum antiviral treatments, in the form of small-molecule compounds, for different viral infections, caused by coronaviruses, New World arenaviruses (NWA), and by enteroviruses. Coronaviruses are responsible for deadly human diseases such as SARS, MERS and COVID-19. The second viral group is instead associated with deadly haemorrhagic fever diseases in humans, while the third is responsible for numerous, severe conditions, especially in young children.In all cases, suitable targets for the development of broad-spectrum therapies have been identified. These targets will be studied with a series of in silico analyses, which will guide the design and synthesis of novel compounds, able to interfere with the essential functions of these proteins, and therefore to impair the virus life cycle.