Defining Pharmacological Targets by Analysis of Virus-Host Protein Interactions

Abstract

Viruses are obligate parasites that depend on cellular factors for replication. Pharmacological inhibition of essential viral proteins, mostly enzymes, is an effective therapeutic alternative in the absence of effective vaccines. However, this strategy commonly encounters drug resistance mechanisms that allow these pathogens to evade control. Due to the dependency on host factors for viral replication, pharmacological disruption of the host-pathogen protein-protein interactions (PPIs) is an important therapeutic alternative to block viral replication. In this review we discuss salient aspects of PPIs implicated in viral replication and advances in the development of small molecules that inhibit viral replication through antagonism of these interactions.

Keywords: Cellular cofactors; Protein complexes; Protein–protein interaction; Small organic molecules; Viral replication; Viruses; Virus–host interactome; Virus–host protein interactions.