The new crown treatment drugs currently on the market are mainly small-molecule oral drugs and neutralizing antibodies. The effect of the new crown small molecule oral drug is not easily affected by the mutant strain. The small molecule oral drug is convenient to take, easy to produce, store and transport, which is a major advantage of this type of drug.
Why is the new coronavirus changing?
The new coronavirus is an RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus. RNA virus replication depends on its own RNA polymerase, which has poor error-correcting ability. If a gene mutation occurs during virus replication, the polymerase will not remove the mutated gene. If things go on like this, the mutant genes will continue to accumulate in the RNA virus, eventually causing the RNA virus to keep mutating.
At present, Omicron is continuing to mutate, and there have been reports from many countries that Omicron subtype mutants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, BA.5 and recombinant mutants XQ, XE, XM have been found.
The relationship between viruses and humans
A virus is a tiny organism with a very simple structure. It cannot survive alone, but must survive in the cells of other organisms, which determines that it must depend on the host's cells to survive and reproduce.
Humans are the hosts of the new coronavirus, and the mutual adaptation of the virus and the human immune system has prompted the co-evolution of the two. That is to say, if the human immune system is strong and can suppress the virus, it will be eliminated by the immune system when it enters the human body; but in order to survive, the virus will keep mutating to adapt to the host's immunity, and then the virus can continue replicate on the host.
The more times a virus replicates, the more people it infects, the more likely it is to mutate and the greater the number of variants. In addition, the mutation of the virus has no direction and may become stronger or weaker.
How do new crown drugs block virus replication?
After the RNA of the new coronavirus enters the cell, it will synthesize two kinds of polymeric proteins. At this time, there will be some kind of enzyme in the body to cut the two polymeric proteins to produce multiple proteins that are conducive to the replication of the new coronavirus. The role of small molecule drugs is to inhibit the activity of this enzyme, thereby blocking the replication of the new coronavirus in human cells.
How protease inhibitors work
Protease inhibitors are a class of antiviral drugs that are used to fight viruses such as influenza and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Protease inhibitors work as follows:
01
When the virus invades human cells, it begins to replicate itself, and the replicated virus continues to infect cells.
02
Viral RNA contains genetic instructions for making proteins that can be used to form new viruses.
03
Subsequently, the RNA is translated into long molecules called polypeptides.
04
Polypeptides must be cleaved into smaller molecules before they can be used to make new viruses. Protease is an enzyme that can perform the above cleavage.
05
Protease inhibitors block proteases, thereby preventing the cleavage of the polypeptide and stopping the virus from replicating.
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