A Taiwanese-Malaysian research team has developed a platform to identify drugs that might inhibit COVID-19 infections, which screens massive databanks of existing medicines.
The platform was developed to help scientists find drugs developed to treat other diseases that might prove efficacious against COVID-19, the developers yesterday told a news conference held by National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) in Taipei.
Chang Chia-ching (張家靖), a professor in the university’s Department of Biological Science and Technology, said that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 infections, attaches itself to the ACE2 receptor on human cells.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“Identifying ACE2 inhibitors rapidly is a top priority,” Chang said.
The researchers developed the platform to detect modulators that affect the interaction of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement technique.
The team thus far identified ramipril and perindopril, two medicines developed for treatment of cardiovascular diseases, as potentially interfering with the interaction of the virus and the cell, Chang said, adding that it also found another drug, enalapril, that might have a reverse effects.
The platform could also be used to search for medicines for treatment of other infectious diseases or even cancer, Chang said.
Kiew Lik-Voon, a professor in the University of Malaya’s Department of Pharmacology who is a member of the team, said that the medicines identified by the platform are preliminary results, adding that more work would have to be done to evaluate the drugs’ clinical effect.
Shieh Dar-bin (謝達斌), a professor in National Cheng Kung University’s (NCKU) Institute of Oral Medicine who is also a member of the team, praised the research as an example of successful cross-field collaboration.
The team comprised specialists from different academic areas, from electronic engineering to cell biology, he said.
NYCU president Lin Chi-hung (林奇宏) called the invention “inspiring,” saying that it was the result regular cooperation between Taiwanese and Malaysian researchers
University of Malaya vice president Noorsaadah Binti Abd Rahman attended the event via videoconferencing, saying that she was thankful for the participation of the Taiwanese researchers and hopes that more drugs would be identified.
The Taiwanese team members are from NCKU, NYCU, Chang Gung University, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Changhua University of Education.
Their study, titled “Development of flexible electrochemical impedance spectroscopy-based biosensing platform for rapid screening of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors,” was published in last month’s issue of the Biosensors and Bioelectronics journal.
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
COUNTERMEASURE: Taiwan was to implement controls for 47 tech products bound for South Africa after the latter downgraded and renamed Taipei’s ‘de facto’ offices The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still reviewing a new agreement proposed by the South African government last month to regulate the status of reciprocal representative offices, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. Asked about the latest developments in a year-long controversy over Taiwan’s de facto representative office in South Africa, Lin during a legislative session said that the ministry was consulting with legal experts on the proposed new agreement. While the new proposal offers Taiwan greater flexibility, the ministry does not find it acceptable, Lin said without elaborating. The ministry is still open to resuming retaliatory measures against South
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
RSS