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Brief description/objective

The overall objective of the SARS-DTV network is to contribute to the development of candidate anti-SARS-CoV drugs, vaccines and diagnostic assays, by collaborative and complementary research divided into four Work packages. Molecular targets for anti-SARS-CoV therapy will be identified and characterised in terms of structure and function. (Bio)chemical approaches will identify “lead compounds” (candidate antiviral agents). The correlates of the humoral and cellular protective anti-SARS-CoV immune response will be defined and the role of immunopathology in SARS will be addressed. The Model Systems work package aims to develop SARS-CoV reverse genetic systems as research tools and apply these to automated drug testing in the form of a bio-safe, cell culture-based screening system. This should lead to a European Centralized Facility for the design, synthesis and screening of anti-SARS-CoV compounds. An important spin-off of the program will be a large collection of SARS-CoV-related reagents, assays, structural information, and protocols, which will be used both for fundamental research and for the development of rapid and reliable diagnostic assays.