Tues Mar 2 // Dr. Che Colpitts // Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University

Dr. Che Colpitts
​Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University
One drug to rule them all: Novel antiviral strategies for coronaviruses and beyond

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic underscores our vulnerability to emerging viruses. Most emerging viruses are zoonotic and jump into humans from animal reservoirs as a result of habitat destruction and ecosystem disruption. As such, we are likely to face future pandemic threats from emerging viruses. Conventional antiviral development relies on detailed characterization of viral enzymes and is not compatible with a rapid response to newly emerging viruses. Rather than pursue a traditional “one bug, one drug” approach to antivirals, we aim to identify and characterize highly conserved virus-host interactions as targets for broadly-acting antivirals to protect against emerging, and yet to emerge, viruses. Many viruses have evolved to attach to cell-surface carbohydrates called glycans as the first step in infection. We have shown that disrupting these glycan-dependent interactions broadly inhibits the cellular entry of unrelated viruses, including hepatitis C virus, herpesviruses, influenza virus, and others. Similarly, many viruses require interaction with a cellular protein called cyclophilin A to successfully replicate in cells. We showed that hepatitis C virus requires cyclophilin A to evade cell-intrinsic antiviral immunity. We are currently characterizing the roles of glycans and cyclophilins in replication of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, and are applying this knowledge to define novel antiviral strategies against coronaviruses. These studies inform the development of broadly-acting antivirals to protect against current and future emerging viruses.