Reviewing Antiviral Research against Viruses Causing Human Diseases - a Structure-Guided Approach

Abstract

The smallest of all the pathogens, viruses, have continuously been the foremost strange microorganisms. Viral infections can cause extreme sicknesses as evidenced by the HIV/AIDS widespread or the later Ebola or Zika episodes. Apprehensive framework distortions are also regularly observed as consequences of numerous viral infections. Besides, numerous viral infections are of oncoviruses, which can trigger different types of cancer. Nearly every year, a modern infectious species emerges, debilitating the world population with an annihilating episode. Subsequently, there is a need to create antivirals to combat such rising infections. From the discovery of the antiviral drug Idoxuridine in 1962 to the revelation of Baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza) that was approved by the FDA in 2018, the whole process and criteria of creating antivirals have changed significantly. In this article, different auxiliary science strategies are described that can serve as a referral for therapeutic innovation.

Keywords: Antivirals; COVID-19; X-ray crystallography; cancer; cryo-EM; drug design; structural biology; virus.