Contribuições da bioinformática para identificação de alvos terapêuticos na pandemia do SARS-­CoV-­2: Uma análise cienciométrica

Abstract

The registration of a new acute respiratory syndrome (COVID­19) in China at the end of 2019, generated a public health alert worldwide. Since its discovery, the infection caused by SARS­CoV­2 has been studied and presented a challenge in the identification of drugs that can act in the prevention or treatment of the disease. The objective of this work was to investigate the current state of knowledge about the use of bioinformatics in the identification of therapeutic targets for the development of vaccines and drugs against SARS CoV­2. A scientometric review was performed based on the literature available in the Web of Science (WoS) databases. The works listedin the period from 2019 to the first half of 2022 were surveyed. The year with thehighest number of publications involving the search for therapeutic targets for Covid­19 using bioinformatics was in 2021. The research groups that produced the most were of Indian origin, followed by China and the United States. Brazil was the tenth country with the highest frequency of participation in publications, however with a centrality equal to zero. The main targets studied were the ACE2 enzyme and the Spike glycoprotein, using tools such as moleculares docking. The aid of bioinformatics tools for the search for therapeutic targets can contributeto a more assertive response and even predict possible drug toxicities.