Application of Computational and Bioinformatics Techniques in Drug Repurposing for Effective Development of Potential Drug Candidate for the Management of COVID-19
Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji, Olaniyan Tope Olugbemi, Muhammad Akram, Umme Laila, Michael Olugbenga Samuel, Ayomide Michael Oshinjo, Juliana Bunmi Adetunji, Gloria Enevwo Okotie, Nwadiuto Esiobu, Omotayo Opemipo Oyedara, Folasade Muibat Adeyemi · 2022
The novel Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak has significantly affected different human activities in the globalized world. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts have been made to discover and identify treatment options for the disease. The utilization of computational and bioinformatics method to repurpose existing drugs could be necessary for the effective treatment of COVID-19 because there is presently no effective treatment for it. Drug repurposing entails discovering and identifying new drugs from existing drugs. It is a process that is cost effective, making drugs available in the market within a relatively shorter period of time compared to the conventional method of novel drug discovery. It is also an attractive approach that facilitates the drug development system, providing effective drugs for the treatment of an illness instead of its primary manifestations. In drug repurposing, computational methods involving the study of protein-ligand interaction through homology modeling, virtual molecular docking and dynamic simulation, and other machine learning methods rapidly aid drug discovery. In this chapter, the effective computational and bioinformatics methods used in drug repurposing to identify drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 are discussed. This chapter also highlights the effective techniques to facilitate the drug development system for their efforts at discovering and identifying treatment options for this disease.