Project Overview

The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the real possibility of future CoV-related epidemics both underscore the need for rapid development of new treatments and efficient intervention protocols. In this regard, protein–protein interactions (PPIs) play an important role in a wide range of biological processes. They are involved in the principal activities and pathways at the cellular level, making them promising targets for drug discovery. The SARS-CoV2 spike protein plays a key role in mediating virus–cell fusion and the integration of the SARS-CoV2 virus into host cells. It has been demonstrated that the human monoclonal antibodies can be used as immunoprophylaxis or therapy against coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV [1]and MERS-CoV [2]. In this respect, the repurposing of available antibodies or the discovery of novel ones that can strongly interact with COVID-19 spike proteins can substantially inhibit the virus from affecting human cells.

Our proposed project aims to develop a platform to facilitate repurposing of available antibodies to treat COVID-19 through identification of a novel protein–protein interaction protocol. It should be noted that the proposed research project directly aligns with the mandate of the AI4Society, as it aims to “develop appropriate computational platforms to implement AI technologies in a real-world use case” and it has direct applications in a vertical sector described by the AI4Society (i.e., health).