Integrative Omics and Systems Pharmacology for COVID-19

In 2019, the emerging RNA virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), gained the ability to infect human beings, then turned into human-to-human transmission, and eventually led to a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), causing serious damage not only to global public health but also economic activities for years. Now, fast-mutating SARS-CoV-2 continues to produce new variants that threaten the world. As such, there is still a high demand for the development of effective treatments for combating new variants of SARS-CoV-2 infection and mitigating diverse post-COVID symptoms, including those who are long-COVID patients.

This book introduces cutting-edge ways for drug discovery and pharmacological approaches to develop treatments and medications for COVID-19, based on modern technologies that highlight the applications of integrated multiple omics and advanced bioinformatics tools. A comprehensive overview of COVID-19 is provided, focusing on the impact of new variants and the emerging trend of vaccine development. This book also presents efficient modern strategies for developing drugs and immunotherapeutics using in silico and integrated pharmacology, through uncovering chief host/viral protein targets such as angiotensinogen-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), toll-like receptors (TLRs), transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2), papain-like protease (PLpro), main protease (Mpro), 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), etc., and cellular processes involving several important infectious and inflammatory pathways. Theoretically, by inhibiting and controlling the activity of these crucial protein targets, anti-virus agents might suppress COVID-19 infection, mitigate COVID-19 symptoms, and prevent the development of long-COVID.