The journal Nucleic Acids Research, issued since 1974 by the Oxford University Press, has published a paper devoted to the nsp14, nsp10, and nsp16 methylation complex in SARS-CoV-2. The publication is a result of a study carried out by researchers from the JU Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology under the supervision of Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć and Dr Anna Czarna in close collaboration with the Helmholtz Institute in Munich.
Scientists have proven that three non-structural proteins of coronaviruses – nsp14, nsp16 and nsp10 – form a functional complex important in the process of cap methylation at the 5' end of the genomic RNA and in the process of replication and error correction. The formation of this complex and its dynamics regulate these processes. The results obtained allow for a better understanding of the biology of viruses, and also characterise new therapeutic targets that in the future may be used to create effective treatment methods both during future pandemics and in the case of everyday colds.
‘Why is it important? Because now we better understand how the virus replicates, and it opens up new therapeutic possibilities. Research is at the threshold of every innovation’, wrote Prof. Pyrć on X.
The paper Despite the odds: formation of the SARS-CoV-2 methylation complex is available at academic.oup.com.
