June 2021
Prof. Christa E. Müller and Prof. Michael Gütschow (both Pharm. & Med. Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Institute) will receive up to 500,000 Euros over three years from the VW Foundation to support their corona research. The two scientists are investigating drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and other corona viruses. The drug target is the main protease of the corona viruses. A great advantage of this target is that practically no mutations are known. With the money, the team can continue the research that has so far been financed from their own funds. For example, studies on pharmacokinetics and toxicity will be carried out and important drug compounds will be optimised. We wish both scientists and their team every success with their research!
Link to the news article
March 2021
The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (Mpro) is essential for the replication of the corona virus and is a significant drug target. Its blockade can inhibit the replication of the virus. Small drug molecules as inhibitors of this protease are therefore a promising strategy against COVID-19.
The research groups of Prof. Christa E. Müller and Prof. Michael Gütschow (both Pharmaceutical Institute, Pharm. & Med. Chemistry) identified appropriate substructures and assembled two types of compounds that block the Mpro of SARS-CoV-2. These rationally designed inhibitors are promising candidates for the further development of antiviral drugs against COVID-19. The ultimate goal is to obtain drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.
The results were published in an article entitled Targeting the Main protease of SARS-CoV-2: From the Establishment of High Throughput Screening to the Design of Tailored Inhibitors in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
August 2020
The junior scientist Dr. Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar (AK Prof. Müller) is a leading expert in the field of inhibitors against coronaviruses. His promising work focuses on the Main Protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, which is essential for viral replication. The agents can pass the cell membrane and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Mpro both reversibly and irreversibly. Thus, the enzyme is no longer available for the production of important viral proteins, and viral replication is stopped or slowed down significantly. Back in 2013, Dr. Pillaiyar developed one of the most potent inhibitors of the related SARS-CoV-1 Mpro. The first novel inhibitors have already been tested in-vitro systems and show high inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.
