Antiviral chemotherapy with possible targets

Antiviral drug Targets

Receptor analogs Attachment of virion to cell receptors
Rimantadine Uncoating
Transcriptase inhibitors Primary transcription from viral
genome
Zidavudine AZP Reverse transcription
Lentivirus tat inhibitors Regulation of transcription
Ribavirin Processing of RNA transcripts
Interferons Translation of viral RNA to protein
Protease inhibitors Post translational cleavage of
proteins
Acycloguanocine (Acyclovir) Replication of viral DNA genome
Replicase inhibitors Replication of viral RNA genome
Viral mechanisms of avoidance and escape
from host immune system
Multicellular organisms possess very
sophisticated defense mechanisms that are
designed to effectively counter the continual
microbial insult of the environment within the
vertebrate host
However, successful microbial pathogens have in turn evolved complex
and efficient methods to overcome innate and adaptive immune
mechanisms, which can result in disease or chronic infections.
Although the various virulence strategies used by viral pathogens are
numerous, there are several general mechanisms that are used to
subvert and exploit immune systems that are shared between these
diverse microbial pathogens.
The success of each pathogen is directly dependant on its ability to
mount an effective anti-immune response within the infected host,
which can ultimately result in acute disease, chronic infection, or
pathogen clearance.
Some of the many molecular mechanisms that viral pathogens use to
evade host immune defenses are as follows
• virus infection induces the synthesis of
inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which
generates nitric oxide by the oxidation of L-
arginine, whereas other viruses have evolved
strategies to prevent iNOS induction. The iNOS
gene is under the control of NFkB and STAT-1,
which many viruses directly modulate as a
component of their anti-interferon strategies
For further readings:
Anti-Immunology: Evasion of the Host
Immune System by Bacterial and Viral
Pathogens (B. Brett Finlay and Grant
McFadden)