Novel drug discovery approaches for treating arenavirus infections.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_D3E86981CC33
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Review (review): journal as complete as possible of one specific subject, written based on exhaustive analyses from published work.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Novel drug discovery approaches for treating arenavirus infections.
Journal
Expert opinion on drug discovery
Author(s)
Pasquato A., Kunz S.
ISSN
1746-045X (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1746-0441
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2016
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
11
Number
4
Pages
383-393
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Review

Abstract
Arenaviruses are enveloped negative stranded viruses endemic in Africa, Europe and the Americas. Several arenaviruses cause severe viral hemorrhagic fever with high mortality in humans and pose serious public health threats. So far, there are no FDA-approved vaccines and therapeutic options are restricted to the off-label use of ribavirin. The major human pathogenic arenaviruses are classified as Category A agents and require biosafety level (BSL)-4 containment.
Herein, the authors cover the recent progress in the development of BSL2 surrogate systems that recapitulate the entire or specific steps of the arenavirus life cycle and are serving as powerful platforms for drug discovery. Furthermore, they highlight the identification of selected novel drugs that target individual steps of arenavirus multiplication describing their discovery, their targets, and mode of action.
The lack of effective drugs against arenaviruses is an unmatched challenge in current medical virology. Novel technologies have provided important insights into the basic biology of arenaviruses and the mechanisms underlying virus-host cell interaction. Significant progress of our understanding of how the virus invades the host cell paved the way to develop powerful novel screening platforms. Recent efforts have provided a range of promising drug candidates currently under evaluation for therapeutic intervention in vivo.

Keywords
Animals, Antiviral Agents/pharmacology, Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use, Arenaviridae Infections/drug therapy, Arenaviridae Infections/epidemiology, Arenaviridae Infections/virology, Arenavirus/isolation & purification, Drug Design, Drug Discovery/methods, Humans, Viral Vaccines/administration & dosage
Pubmed
Create date
20/02/2016 16:37
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:53
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