Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used by scientists to discover possible treatments against dangerous viruses transmitted from animals.
Nipah and Hendra viruses are capable of causing fatal infections in humans: Shutterstock
Research has focused on zoonotic viruses Nipah and Hendra, transmitted from bats, which are capable of causing fatal infections in humans. According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), between 40% and 75% of those infected with these viruses lose their lives.
A team from Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) trained an automatic learning algorithm to identify over twenty compounds with therapeutic potential for diseases caused by zoonotic pathogens that can be transmitted from people to humans, which can be transmitted to people in humans. notes the study authors.
The results could fundamentally change the way in which potential viral pandemia will be addressed in the future.
The Rhodium software, developed by SWRI, allows the researchers to study the henipaviruses transmitted by bats, Nipah and Hendra, endemic in certain regions of the world and which cause especially lethal infections. Through this collaboration, the researchers have mapped the protein structure of the measles virus, which is part of the same viral family as the henipaviruses.
Using measles as a model, Rhodium virtually examined the compounds with therapeutic potential and classified on the basis of the molecular structure and the efficiency with which they are related to the target.
Treatment could also be used against measles
Out of 40 million compounds, Rhodium has identified 30 viral inhibitors considered possible candidates for Nipah and Hendra dead viruses. Although research has been focused on antiviral treatments for henipaviruses, any developed broad spectrum therapy could also treat related viruses, including measles.
“Henipaviruses are lethal pathogens. They are endemic in animal populations in Asia and Australia, but situations of transmission to pets and humans occur regularly according to the season, which is worrying from the perspective of the pandemic potential”, Mention in the study
By virtual screening of compounds, researchers save time and resources. Although they have progressed significantly in a short time, the researchers said that it is necessary to continue the research, to validate these candidates with therapeutic potential.
The research thus opens the road to identifying treatments for Nipah and Hendra viruses.
