Therapeutic Potential of Antiviral Peptides against the NS2B/NS3 Protease of Zika Virus.

The NS2B/NS3 protease is highly conserved among various proteases of the Zika virus, making it an important therapeutic target for developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. The NS2B/NS3 protease is a crucial enzyme in the replication cycle of Zika virus and plays a significant role in viral maturation and assembly. Inhibiting the activity of this protease can potentially prevent viral replication, making it an attractive target for developing therapies against Zika virus infection.

A student led computational screening of peptide inhibitors against main protease of SARS-CoV-2.

The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a promising drug target due to its functional role as a catalytic dyad in mediating proteolysis during the viral life cycle. In this study, experimentally proven 14 HIV protease peptides were screened against the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. Fourteen middle and high school "student researchers" were trained on relevant computational tools, provided with necessary biological and chemical background and scientific article writing.