Precursors of Viral Proteases as Distinct Drug Targets.

ABSTRACT: Viral proteases are indispensable for successful virion maturation, thus making them a prominent drug target. Their enzyme activity is tightly spatiotemporally regulated by expression in the precursor form with little or no activity, followed by activation via autoprocessing. These cleavage events are frequently triggered upon transportation to a specific compartment inside the host cell. Typically, precursor oligomerization or the presence of a co-factor is needed for activation. A detailed understanding of these mechanisms will allow ligands with non-canonical mechanisms of action to be designed, which would specifically modulate the initial irreversible steps of viral protease autoactivation. Binding sites exclusive to the precursor, including binding sites beyond the protease domain, c

SUBMITTER: Majerova T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8537868 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature