Broad-spectrum host-acting antivirals: identification and characterization of anti-HIV drugs
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Hundreds of host factors related to viral infections like HIV, hepatitis C virus, dengue virus or West Nile virus have been identified. As many of these host factors are shared by different viruses, chemical blockade of key virus-associated cellular components may effectively act as broad-spectrum antiviral treatment. Broad-spectrum host-acting antivirals (HAAs) may reduce treatment complexity and costs, increase adherence to the therapy and may pose a higher barrier to develop resistance. In this thesis a high-throughput anti-HIV assay was used to screen for virus inhibitory effects of a library of secondary metabolites derived from myxobacteria. Compounds with high anti-HIV activity and low toxicity were classified as hits and two of them (ratjadone A and soraphen A) were selected for further analysis. The mechanism of HIV inhibition of both compounds is described here. The results presented in this thesis show that broad-spectrum HAAs are a feasible option for antiviral treatment and that the compounds identified can be further studied for hit-to-lead compound development.
Authors: Fleta Soriano, Eric Eric
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2607327086