Themed collection Coronavirus articles - free to access collection

Brian Pecson and Daniel Gerrity present an Editorial Perspective which focuses on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the water industry.

Vincenzo Naddeo and Haizhou Liu present an ‘Editorial Perspective’ on coronavirus in wastewater and discuss the water research needs to combat viral outbreaks.

Recent advances in the design of nano- and biosensors, as well as important challenges and opportunities related to the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 diagnosis, are discussed.

This perspective explores the scope of piezo- and pyro-electric wearable sensors towards the early intervention of virus-affected patients, particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Much of the science underpinning the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic lies in the soft matter domain.

The appearance of new and lethal viruses and their potential threat urgently requires innovative antiviral systems.

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation is one method for decontamination of N-95 filtering facepiece respirators to facilitate reuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other techniques include hydrogen peroxide vaporization, microwave-generated steaming, and dry heating.

With its principles discovered more than a hundred years ago the photodynamic inactivation of viruses is now routinely employed in the decontamination of blood products but also investigated for HPV treatment and water disinfection and food safety.

While “avoiding stagnation” has been the mantra of building water experts, support for how this terminology is used is not overly convincing. Carefully nuanced COVID stagnation studies can improve water quality research and communication strategies.

Biomaterials in company with bioengineered tissue models enables scientists to develop the more precise disease models and find better solutions in infectious respiratory disease treatment.

Multiplex lateral flow immunoassays for outstanding POCT of infectious diseases.

Biosensors function as rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic tools for various viral infectious diseases.

Recent developments in the biological activities of polyoxometalates (metal-oxide cluster anions) are discussed from the chemotherapeutic point of view for a novel inorganic drug.

Chemical biology strategies can play important roles in studying the complexity of SARS-CoV-2–host interactions at molecular level detail.

Fighting COVID-19 with high affinity reagents: this review article summarizes the discovery of several classes of (bio) molecules targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

SARS-CoV-2 virus invades the host through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors by decreasing the ACE2 expression of the host.

Summary of the latest research progress on detection methods of SARS-CoV-2, providing a reference to develop rapid and accurate diagnostic strategies for COVID-19.

Since the coronaviruses that cause COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-1 share 80% structural similarity, we present a comprehensive review of the diverse molecular inhibitors of SARS-CoV-1. This will help to accelerate drug discovery for deadly coronavirus diseases.

A schematic representation of different methods to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 viral infection is associated with the absence of specific drug(s) for fighting this viral infection.

Potential drug candidates derived from natural sources are posed for the development of anti-SARS CoV-2 therapeutics.

Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a nuclear replicating enveloped virus.

Exploiting the power of nature to fight viral infections. This review describes the concept of direct- and host-acting natural products with broad-spectrum antiviral activities and provides promising examples derived from plants, fungi, bacteria and marine organisms.

This review covers the increasing research efforts of the past decade, focusing on the structure, function and druggability of influenza NA, and its inhibition by natural products. Latest developments in theoretical and experimental research on NA for lead discovery strategies from nature are presented.

SARS-CoV-2 and humoral response determinations to understand and control the spread of COVID-19.

RNA-based viruses likely make up the highest pandemic threat among all known pathogens in about the last 100 years, since the Spanish Flu of 1918 with 50 M deaths up to COVID-19.

This review provides a comprehensive look at whether a pandemic enveloped virus would pose challenges for the wastewater and drinking water industries.

An ideal approach to real-time disease detection and surveillance.

Colorimetric LAMP for COVID-19 intensified diagnostics: a simple and quantitative method comparable in diagnostic performance to RT-qPCR.

Wastewater analysis provides insights into population lifestyle and health status during the coronavirus pandemic.

Development of an identification methodology with PS-MS as a sensitive and rapid technique to obtain vastly different chemical changes in COVID-19 infection.

Unveiling the nanomechanical stability of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein

Using a combination of enhanced sampling molecular dynamics techniques and non-equilibrium alchemical transformations, we have shown that hydroxychloroquine may act as a mild inhibitor of important functional proteins for SARS-CoV2 replication.

The continued emergence and spread of infectious agents is of great concern, and systems biology approaches to infectious disease research can advance our understanding of host–pathogen relationships and facilitate the development of new therapies and vaccines.

Multicolor silver nanoparticles enable multiplexed detection of dengue, yellow fever, and Ebola virus proteins in a single lateral flow strip.

The SARS-CoV NTPase/helicase being able to unwind both RNA and DNA duplexes, is an attractive target for anti-viral drug design. A series of bismuth complexes were synthesized and characterized, and exhibit the inhibition against the SARS helicase ATPase and duplex-unwinding activities at micromolar concentrations.

A versatile aptamer-assisted proximity ligation system improves diagnosis of COVID-19, and allows the evaluation of potential neutralizing aptamers.

By integrating algebraic topology and deep learning, we provide a reliable ranking of binding affinities, binding site analysis, and fragment decomposition for 137 SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors.

The molecular mechanism of the proteolysis reaction catalyzed by SARS-CoV-2 M^pro, one of the enzymes essential for the replication process of the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is described using computational QM/MM methods.

By combining evolutionary and physico-chemical principles, previously unknown druggable Zn-sites in multiple conserved SARS-CoV-2 domains have been identified.

A computer program for retrosynthetic planning helps develop multiple “synthetic contingency” plans for hydroxychloroquine and also routes leading to remdesivir, both promising but yet unproven medications against COVID-19.

Herein we present a workflow for design and synthesis of novel selective Ub-based tools for DUBs. Selectivity is achieved by incorporation of unnatural amino acids into the Ub C-terminal epitope.

RT-LAMP to detect SARS-CoV-2: in a positive sample, RT-LAMP leads to a color change from pink to yellow.

A microfluidic device to quantitate antibody reactivities to SARS-CoV-2 antigens: spike protein, RDB, S1 subunit, and nucleocapsid, from 50 serum samples.

We studied the density and aggregation behavior of virions on TCPS and glass substrates, surface functionality, coffee ring effect on both surfaces and the effect of ethanol-based disinfectant on the virion structure using atomic force microscopy.

In silico exploration of 12 Tecoma phytocompounds that could serve as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV entry to host cells.

The polymer polyphosphate, abundant in blood platelets, blocks the binding of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS- spike (S)-protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) at low concentrations.

This work reports the development of a rapid, simple and inexpensive colorimetric paper-based assay for the detection of the severe acute respiratory symptom coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) humanized antibody.

A digital microfluidic immunoassay platform enables rapid multiplex quantification of proinflammatory cytokines in serum for critically ill COVID-19 patients.

New computational protocol applied to a repurposing campaign against SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 is a widespread and highly contagious disease in the human population.

Free Energy Pertubation (FEP) can be used to accurately predict the binding affinity of a ligand to the main protease (Mpro) of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Exploring effective disinfection methods and understanding their mechanisms on the new coronavirus is becoming more active due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Structure-based design of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors identified hydantoin, benzothiazine and cresol moieties as promising residues of new peptidomimetic inhibitors.

Novel coronavirus (CoV) is the primary etiological virus responsible for the pandemic that started in Wuhan in 2019–2020.

Gly504 interacting with two nearest neighbor and one non-local amino acids.

Tri(4′-diphenylphosphonyloxylbenzoyl phenyl)phosphate (TDPBP) derivatives were developed as greener supports to aid high-efficiency liquid-phase peptide synthesis without the need for unrecyclable resin and tedious chromatographic separation.

On Wednesday 11th March, 2020, the world health organization (WHO) announced novel coronavirus (COVID-19, also called SARS-CoV-2) as a pandemic.

Inhibitory potential of ilimaquinone (marine sponge metabolite) against nine essential SARS-CoV-2 target proteins, employing a molecular interaction and dynamics simulation approach.

COVID-19 has been declared as a global health emergency and exposed the world to a deadly virus, which has dramatically changed the lives of humans for an unknown period of time.

Coumarin derivatives and their Pd(II)-complexes have shown a higher binding potential towards SARS-CoV-2 M^pro than chloroquine/cinanserin along with lower toxicity.

Sesquiterpenes, 8α-anisate-dauc-4-ene-3,9-dione (webiol anisate) (1) and 10α-acetoxy-6α-benzoate-jaeschkeanadiol (2) as well as several analogues (3–12) were root extracted from Ferula vesceritensis.

Design of 2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)one-trihydroxyphenyl Schiff base conjugates as COVID-19 therapy.

Development of a microfluidic disc-direct reverse-transcription quantitative PCR platform to perform automated multiplex nucleic acid tests for rapid multiplex detection of disease infection.

The TinyArray imager, a robust inexpensive portable imaging device, can detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 based on coronavirus antigen microarrays.

There has been a strong and urgent demand to diagnose community transmission-driven coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after it crossed borders. Tablet PC-based portable device for colorimetric determination and 3D printed sample holders.

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that was first identified during the outbreak in Wuhan, China in 2019.

A combination of Autodock Vina and FPL calculations suggested that periandrin V, penimocycline, cis-p-Coumaroylcorosolic acid, glycyrrhizin, and uralsaponin B are able to bind well to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro.

The significant role of curcumin against SARS-CoV-2 drug targets to thwart virus replication and binding into the host system using the computational biology paradigm approach.

Simultaneous inhibition of silver–carbene complexes to ACE2 and PDB6LU7 is conducive for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a virtual prediction.