In recent months, a novel human pathogen denominated coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has emerged from China, whose infection is associated with a severe respiratory syndrome that has led to 315,000 deaths worldwide as of May. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 when the human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed. The rising spread of SARS-CoV-2, and its serious impact on public health, urgently requires a powerful effort in scientific research in order to allow a deeper understanding of the interaction mechanism of the virus with the host cells, in order to explain its remarkable transmission rate.

Unfortunately, the molecular basis and mechanisms that link a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection to pulmonary pathology are still unexplored. For this reason, this Research Topic aims to highlight current advances carried out at the molecular level that can provide insight into SARS-CoV-2's mechanism of infection. In particular, this collection will be devoted to studying unknown aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanism in order to identify new therapeutic targets, and to validate potential inhibitors. This will be achieved by taking advantage of multidisciplinary approaches involving computational chemistry, microbiology, chemical-physical, and biochemical methodologies.

Themes to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Studies at the molecular level of processes during the following infection stages:
o Virus-host attachment: Interactions between viral proteins and host receptors such as ACE2 and other co-receptors
o Virus entry: Study of the proteins enhancing the virus internalization
• Structural and molecular simulation studies of host-pathogen interactions
• Identification of novel biomarkers correlated with disease evolution
• Rational design of entities for therapeutic treatment of COVID-19
• Current FDA approved drugs and their mechanisms for the treatment of COVID-19
• Mechanistic insights for advanced techniques in the early diagnosis of COVID-19

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Frontiers in Chemistry

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