Identifying Therapeutic Compounds Targeting RNA-Dependent-RNA-Polymerase of Sars-Cov-2

COVID-19 emerged as the biggest threat of this century for mankind and later it spread across the globe through human to human transmission. Scientists rushed to understand the structure and mechanism of the virus so that antiviral drugs or vaccines to control this disease can be developed. A key to stop the progression of the disease is to inhibit the replication mechanism of Sars-Cov-2. RNA-dependent-RNA polymerase protein also called RdRp protein is the engine of Sars-Cov-2 that replicates the virus using viral RNA when it gains entry into the human cell. Numerous drugs proposed for the treatment of COVID-19 such as Camostat Mesylate, Remdesivir, Famotidine, Hesperidin, etc. are under trial to analyze the aftermath of their medicinal use. Nature is enriched with compounds that have antiviral activities and can potentially play a pivotal role to inhibit this virus. This study focuses on the phytochemicals that have the potential to exhibit antiviral activities. A large number of compounds were screened and a cohort of most suitable ones are suggested via in-silico techniques which are used worldwide for drug discovery such as docking, binding analysis, Universal Force Field Analysis, Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) Method, Molecular Dynamic Simulation, and Electrostatic Potential Calculation. The proposed compounds are naturally occurring substances with low toxicity, very few side effects, proven anti-pathogenic effects, and most importantly are easily available.