Characterisation of a peptide network with a combined anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity against COVID-19

Characterisation of a peptide network with a combined anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity against COVID-19 is led by Dr Hansel Gómez Martínez from NURITAS in Ireland. The project team will look for bioactive peptides that can bind to as many targets as possible in SARS-CoV-2. The company has identified six targets from the virus - spike protein, main protease, nucleocapsid protein, NSP3, NSP10, and NSP15, and will extend that list through modelling. The authors will use purification mass spectrometry to identify 332 high confidence SARS-CoV-2-human protein-protein interactions, including 66 druggable human proteins which are targets for drugs. The expected outcome is a cocktail of natural peptides, unlocked from natural sources and exhibiting anti-viral properties against COVID-19. Moreover, since similar coronaviruses use comparable infection mechanisms, these peptides could, in principle, provide some universal protection against other viruses of the same family. For all this the team of Dr Hansel Gómez Martínez from NURITAS needed access to an HPC facility for at least six months and the project was awarded by PRACE with 40 000 000 core hours on Piz Daint, hosted by CSCS, Switzerland.