Other inhibitors of viral enzymes and functions

Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2009;189(189):155-76. doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-79086-0_6.

Abstract

Until the end of the 1970s, the mainstays of antiviral chemotherapy were nucleoside analogues that targeted virus polymerase, in particular, the herpesvirus DNA polymerase. The scourge of HIV triggered an unprecedented commitment to identify novel antivirals, and these efforts transformed antiviral therapy into the modern, sophisticated treatment form described in this book, with targets such as the reverse transcriptase and the protease as well as the entry of the human immunodeficiency virus. As the regulation of human pathogenic virus growth cycles became more understandable, the realisation grew that these pathogens had more than one Achilles heel that might be suitable targets for small molecules with antiviral activity. This chapter addresses those "other" targets as well as other approaches to the tried and tested polymerase inhibitors, the so-called non-nucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
  • DnaB Helicases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Endodeoxyribonucleases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • HIV Integrase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • HIV Integrase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Humans
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Virus Assembly / drug effects
  • Viruses / drug effects
  • Viruses / enzymology*

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • HIV Integrase Inhibitors
  • Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase
  • Endodeoxyribonucleases
  • terminase
  • DnaB Helicases