Disclaimer: This post is for personal note, which I just so happen to be sharing. This post isn’t to encourage any unauthorized research or to spread misleading medical information. I’m simply theorizing in public about information I read from actual academics in order to find correlation in their research and to enhance my understanding of medicine, biology, chemistry, virology, etc. However, it is my impression that we as species have all the tools to cure most diseases but it seems like researchers aren’t connecting as much as they should since their research typically focuses on a specific task.

I’m not a medical or science professional, though I took some classes while in college. Yet, the more I read into the basics of RNA (AGCU), DNA (AGCT), proteins, enzymes, cell functions, etc., the more I seem to understand that fighting viruses (which are typically single strands of viral RNA code with a protein shell) is that you have to chemically “trick”, induce, or fortify healthy cells and trigger them in shutting off certain functions when exposed, but also turning on certain functions when exposed. These functions can range from preventing or discouraging endocytosis (when a cell “eats” a virus to incorporate into its body – cytoplasm, vacuoles, etc. – but the virus hacks the health DNA code), turning off or on certain proteins and enzymes, and triggering immune responses to seek and destroy the virus.

Also, in layman terms (meant for myself) vRNA (viral RNA) like most RNA has a phosphorous backbone and four chemicals, so it’s not entirely a “physical hack”, but more so a “chemical-secretion melody” that the virus “plays” or delivers (think of the chemicals as keys on a piano and when played make a tun) to infect a cell (re-tune or re-harmonize it) to encourage its replication, i.e., it tricks the healthy cell to stimulate ribosome production of viral proteins, enzymes, etc. The viruses are programmed to seek out certain proteins, antibodies, and/or enzymes in order to “pick” a cell’s lock or attract to it and lock in. Thus, if you’re shutting off and on things to fight viruses you might get residual physiological effects such as an immune system running on overdrive and attacking healthy bodily functions such as healthy renal (kidney) function.

I was studying viruses largely due to the Coronavirus dilemma and did some reading into anti-viral research using various methods such designing anti-viral mRNA (messenger RNA) which can possibly be loaded into nanoparticles such as poly [lactic-co-glycolic acid] nanoparticles; discouraging the attachment of sugar molecules to viral proteins (such as limiting OST complexes); understanding current medications such as Arbidol (used for influenza and studied regarding Zika – a distant cousin of Hepatitis C, West Nile, Dengue Fever, etc.) , NGI-1 (OST inhibitor), Remdesivir (Ebola), Apoptozole (Hsp70 inhibitor); utilizing protein inhibitors such as NSC 630668-R/1, VER-155008, MAL3–101, MKT-077, Pifithrin, and Apoptozole; preventing NS proteins which have roles in viral replication and include NS1 (modulates host immunity), NS2A, NS2B, NS3 (protease), NS4A, NS4B, NS5 (polymerase); inhibiting spike protein and its role in virus binding and entry; potentially inhibiting Hsp70 protein (a protein required for folding, which was studied during the Zika outbreak) with drugs such as Apoptozole; harvesting, incorporating, or simulating already naturally occurring in-body anti-viral enzymes such as Viperin ddhCTP (which prevents viruses from copying their genetic material and thus from multiplying); utilizing 3D8 scFv (catalytic enzyme) which has hydrolyzing (breaking up, i.e., cleaving) capabilities and protects the host from multifarious viruses regardless of genomic composition; using Ribonucleases (RNases) (June Byun, S., Yuk, S., Jang, Y. et al.) which represent another antiviral therapy approach to degrading viral RNA genomes. etc., and maybe using saline or magnesia based medicines to encourage hydrolysis since rNA is adverse to alkaline, and saline (salt water) and magnesia have opposite pH levels to human blood which is acidic and where viruses can thrive.

Understanding proteins is everything in virology. For example, NS1 is a functionally complex protein and is a central player in the virus’s response to host defense mechanisms and the establishment of efficient viral gene expression. Because of its importance to virus replication and virus-host interactions and the fact that it is highly conserved across influenza virus A strains (Dipanwita, et al, 2009) [Source: Dipanwita Basu, Marcin P. Walkiewicz, Matthew Frieman, Ralph S. Baric, David T. Auble, Daniel A. Engel Journal of Virology Jan 2009, 83 (4) 1881-1891; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01805-08. https://jvi.asm.org/content/83/4/1881%5D

Citations

Dipanwita Basu, Marcin P. Walkiewicz, Matthew Frieman, Ralph S. Baric, David T. Auble, Daniel A. Engel Journal of Virology Jan 2009, 83 (4) 1881-1891; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01805-08. https://jvi.asm.org/content/83/4/1881

June Byun, S., Yuk, S., Jang, Y. et al. Transgenic Chickens Expressing the 3D8 Single Chain Variable Fragment Protein Suppress Avian Influenza Transmission. Sci Rep 7, 5938 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05270-8

Lee, R. F., (n.d.), Laboratory equipment needed for selected diagnostic procedures, retreived 3/1/2020, from http://www.fao.org/3/T0601E0o.htm