Antiviral Research:
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The composition of viruses includes genetic information (RNA or DNA) and as little as possible of other components to help them colonizing the host cells, which explains that one of the most efficient strategies to stop the viral replication is to directly stop the viral RNA or DNA formation. The chain termination or polymerase inhibition goes without the doubt the most important mechanism in terms of antiviral research. Nucleoside analogues are the major contributor to the family of polymerase inhibitors. But given the fast mutation rate especially to RNA virus, which happens to pose more threats to our public health these days (such as Ebola, influenza, SARS, MERS or most recently 2019-nCoV), alternative mechanisms or/and dural mechanism are crucial for battling those viral infectious diseases.
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In our laboratory, we are targeting the post transcription process of viruses to design and synthesize novel nucleoside analogues. By testing them for antiviral and target enzyme (s-Adenosyl homocysteinase hydrolase) activities, a structure-activity relationship could be constructed as long as a possible antiviral mechanism. Our current direction is focusing on L-adenine like carbocyclic nucleosides and combining other interesting structural features, such as modified sugar rings and adenine base.
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a. Control the conformation of L-nucleosides:
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Anti-Ebola EC50= 8.3 ug/mL
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b. Sidechain modified L-carbocyclic nucleosides for mechanism study
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Antiparasitic Research:
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The newest research project in our lab is developing antiparasitic agents against strongyloides steroralis, a common cause of most severe nematodiasis diseases. A lipid analogs, Eryngial (trans-2-dodecenal) is serving as a lead compound for the search. This project is solely led and proceed by undergraduate students in the biology and chemistry departments of SRU.