Chang Liu, PhD

Emerging coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, continue to threaten global lung health and challenge our ability to prevent future pandemics. Many existing antiviral drugs, such as remdesivir, are less effective against these viruses because of a viral enzyme called exoribonuclease (ExoN). ExoN is an essential viral component that helps keep coronavirus stay alive by correcting errors in its genetic material; ExoN then removes antiviral drugs that have been mistakenly incorporated during replication. This makes ExoN a highly promising therapeutic target for the treatment of coronavirus infections and associated lung diseases. Our current understanding of ExoN, however, remains limited. Our study aims to uncover how ExoN enables coronaviruses to resist leading antiviral drugs; the study further aims to use this knowledge to develop new treatments that can block this enzyme. These advances will improve lung health and help save lives from coronavirus-related lung diseases.