Research Projects

The ability of S-glycoprotein (S-protein) in SARS-Cov-2 to bind to the host cell receptor protein leading to its entry in cellular system determines its contagious index and global spread. Three available drugs were investigated to understand the kinetics of S-protein and its entry inside a cellular environment. Optical microscopy and fluorescence-based assays on 293T cells were used as the preamble for assessing the behaviour of S-protein in the presence of these drugs for the first 12 hours post S-protein - ACE2 binding. Preliminary results suggest relatively long retention of S-protein on the cell membrane in the presence of ADD drug. Evident from the %-overlap and colocalization of S-protein with endosome studies, a large fraction of S-protein entering the cell escape endosomal degradation process, suggesting S-protein takes non-endocytic mediated entry in the presence of ADD, whereas in the presence of Riboflavin, S-protein carry out normal endocytic pathway, comparable to control (no drug) group. Therefore, study indicates ADD potentially aects S-protein’s entry mechanism in addition to its reported target action mechanism.