Researchers probe enzyme that may lead to new ...( read to more than 29 countries in North...),Health

read to more than 29 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia before it was contained. It begins with a high fever, headache and body aches. About 10 percent to 20 percent of patients have diarrhea, and after two to seven days, a dry cough may develop. Most patients develop pneumonia. The infection spreads by close personal contact, often through coughing or sneezing.

According to the World Health Organization, 8,098 people worldwide were diagnosed with SARS during the 2003 outbreak; 774 died. There were 29 cases reported in the United States, with no fatalities.

The papain-like-protease enzyme is essential for viral replication and infection of all of the coronaviruses involved in upper respiratory infections. Eliminating the enzyme should stop the infection, Mesecar said.

During the UIC study, graduate student Kiira Ratia, a member of Mesecar's research team, used X-ray crystallography, a technique that involves bombarding a crystalline form of the enzyme with an intense beam of X-rays that are bent by atoms in the molecules to unlock the details of the molecular structure. The X-ray studies were conducted at Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source.

As the X-rays leave the crystal, a unique pattern is created on an ultra-high resolution charge-coupled device camera, a sensor for recording images often used in digital photography and astronomy. The images were then interpreted by computer to reconstruct the positions of all the component atoms.

"We have already discovered compounds that can bind to these pockets and inhibit the activity of this enzyme," Mesecar said. "We have made remarkable progress in a short period of time in generating lead drug-like compounds against the enzyme."

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Contact: Sam Hostettler
samhos@uic.edu
312-355-2522
University of Illinois at Chicago
4-Apr-2006

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