FUSION PROTEINS COMPRISING THE SARS-COV-2 3CLPRO CATALYTIC DOMAIN AND THEIR USES FOR SCREENING ANTI-SARS-COV-2 AGENTS

摘要

In late December 2019, a new betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has emerged in Wuhan China. The World Health Organization has named the severe pneumonia caused by this new coronavirus COVID-19 (for Corona Virus Disease 2019, WHO, 2020). To fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in a long term, in addition to the containment measures implemented in many countries, several projects have been launched around the world to understand the viral evolution and the pathophysiological consequences of the infection in order to identify therapeutic targets and to implement innovative therapies. In particular, the 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) plays a vital role in virus maturation and is proposed to be a key target for drug design against SARS. The present invention relates to fusion proteins comprising the SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro catalytic domain and their uses for screening anti-SARS-Cov-2 agents.