E-Mail
IMAGE: The nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (blue) of SARS-CoV-2 (N) (grey) plays critical roles in multiple processes of the SARS-CoV-2 infection cycle, including replication and transcription, and packaging and protecting the genomic RNA...
view more
Credit: OSU College of Science
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Science have taken a key step toward new drugs and vaccines for combating COVID-19 with a deep dive into one protein's interactions with SARS-CoV-2 genetic material.
The virus' nucleocapsid protein, or N protein, is a prime target for disease-fighting interventions because of the critical jobs it performs for the novel coronavirus' infection cycle and because it mutates at a comparatively slow pace. Drugs and vaccines built around the work of the N protein carry the potential to be highly effective and for longer periods of time - i.e., less susceptible to resistance.