“From COVID-19 to Alcoholic Liver Disease: UNIST Accelerates Development of ZBP1 Inhibitor”

Sangjun Lee's Team Conducts AI-Based Virtual Screening to Control ZBP1 Overactivation
Selected for National Drug Development Project
Developing New Drug Candidates for Infectious Diseases such as COVID-19

The ZBP1 protein inhibitor is emerging as a new drug candidate that can simultaneously target infectious and inflammatory diseases.

Amid this, UNIST is accelerating the development of ZBP1 inhibitors, having been consecutively selected for national research projects.

UNIST (President Park Jongrae) announced that the research team led by Professor Sangjun Lee of the Department of Biological Sciences has been selected for support by the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF, Director Park Youngmin) for their project to develop a treatment for alcoholic liver disease using a ZBP1 inhibitor.

Sangjun Lee, Professor of Biological Sciences at UNIST. Provided by UNIST

ZBP1 is a protein that recognizes abnormal RNA or DNA inside cells and triggers a strong immune response. While it serves a defensive function during viral infections, excessive activation can induce inflammation and cell death known as a 'cytokine storm,' which in turn causes tissue damage.

Recent studies warn that ZBP1 not only exacerbates viral diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza, but also worsens alcoholic liver disease.

Professor Sangjun Lee stated, "We plan to develop an inhibitor capable of regulating the excessive inflammatory response and cell death caused by ZBP1," adding, "We will select candidate substances through AI-based virtual screening and verify their efficacy through cell and animal model experiments."

Professor Lee's team was previously selected for the Yuhan Corporation Innovation Project related to ZBP1 therapeutics, the Innovation Science and Technology Center and Program Project of the Donggrami Foundation (formerly the Ahn Cheolsoo Foundation), and the National Institute of Health project under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The research results, which are central to drug development, on the ZBP1 protein have been published in top-tier journals in the field such as Nature and Science Immunology.