The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic due to the high transmission and mortality rate of this virus. The world health and economic sectors have been severely affected by this deadly virus, exacerbated by the lack of sufficient efficient vaccines. The design of effective drug candidates and their rapid development is necessary to combat this virus. In this study, we selected 23 antimicrobial peptides from the literature and predicted their structure using PEP-FOLD 3.5. In addition, we docked them to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) to study their capability to inhibit the RBD, which plays a significant role in virus binding, fusion and entry into the host cell. We used several docking programs including HDOCK, HPEPDOCK, ClusPro, and HawkDock to calculate the binding energy of the protein-peptide complexes. We identified four peptides with high binding free energy and docking scores. The docking results
Researchers in the United States and Canada have described the structural basis and mode of action for two monoclonal antibodies that potently neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The equine navicular enthesis organ, showing structures of the navicular apparatus. Image: Osborne, Blas-Machado, Cornille, Uhl
“Navicular” is a diagnosis that nobody wants to hear. The prognosis is often poor, resulting in full or partial retirement of the horse. Equine Science Foundation co-founder Paige LaBella looks at a review of the latest research, which suggests navicular syndrome might be preventable.
Navicular is usually associated with front foot pain and damage to the navicular bone, deep inside the hoof structure, and any of a number of structures around it.
But what if there was a way to prevent it through training? A promising review paper on navicular syndrome suggests this may be the case.