Recent advances in targeting dengue and west nile virus proteases using small molecule inhibitors

Abstract

Targeting viral proteases represents an attractive concept in the field of anti-infective lead discovery and has been exploited successfully yielding a number of drugs on the market. Next to their essential role in degrading the virus-encoded polyprotein to functionally relevant units, viral proteases can be involved in further processes relevant to viral replication such as interaction to host proteins. Despite the promising nature of this drug discovery concept in general, lead discovery strategies against flavivirus-caused diseases such as Dengue- and West Nile virus infections are still at a comparably early stage. In the present contribution, recent advances targeting the proteases of Dengue and West Nile viruses are reviewed.