A database of anti-coronavirus peptides

Since 2019, the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) disease (COVID-19) has caused a worldwide epidemic. Anti-coronavirus peptides (ACovPs), a type of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), have demonstrated excellent inhibitory effects on coronaviruses. However, state-of-the-art AMP databases contain only a small number of ACovPs. Additionally, the fields of these databases are not uniform, and the units or evaluation standards of the same field are inconsistent. Most of these databases have not included the target domains of ACovPs and description of in vitro and in vivo assays to measure the inhibitory effects of ACovPs. Here, we present a database focused on ACovPs (ACovPepDB), which contains comprehensive and precise ACovPs information of 518 entries with 214 unique ACovPs manually collected from public databases and published peer-reviewed articles. We believe that ACovPepDB is of great significance for facilitating the development of new peptides and improving treatment for coronavirus infection. The database will become a portal for ACovPs and guide and help researchers perform further studies. The ACovPepDB is available at http://i.uestc.edu.cn/ACovPepDB/.

Automated summary

Since 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-COV-2 has become a global health crisis. Anti-coronavirus peptides (ACovPs), a type of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), have shown promising inhibitory effects against coronaviruses. However, the existing databases lack comprehensive information on ACovPs and have inconsistencies in terms of fields and evaluation standards. In this study, the ACovPepDB database was developed to provide detailed information on 518 ACovPs, which can greatly contribute to the development of new peptides and improvement of coronavirus treatment.