Current Drug Targets - Infectious Disorders - Volume 3, Issue 3, 2003

The global prevalence of persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the lack of a highly effective and well-tolerated antiviral therapy have spurred intensive efforts to discover and develop novel anti-HCV therapy in the pharmaceutical industry. HCV NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), the centerpiece for viral replication, constitutes a valid target for drug discovery. Compared to the host RNA and DN Read More

Papillomaviruses are infectious agents for human and animal epithelial tissue, and nearly 100 distinct human types (HPVs) have been identified. When these viruses infect cutaneous or mucosal skin they can initially cause clinical warts or persistent infection with little or no visible manifestations. Warts, while usually benign, can be painful or cosmetically unacceptable and often require medical treatment. Furtherm Read More

Based on the recent studies of HBV strains with different replication efficiency, several new potential targets for anti-HBV replication have been presented. These include the viral and cellular regulatory factors associated with HBV replication and the process for encapsidation of viral genome and budding into endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A putative regulatory domain has been reported at the carboxyl-end of reverse transcript Read More

Therapy with recombinant human interferon alpha remains pivotal to the treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus liver disease. Semi-synthetic protein-polymer conjugates of interferon with polyethylene glycol have also been recently developed. These conjugates protect the protein from degradation; reduce the immunogenicity; and prolong exposure to drug by a sustained absorption, restricted volume of distribution and Read More

Vaccines are considered to be one of the most effective ways of combating disease caused by bioterrorism agents. Such vaccines must be able to provide protection against pathogens which might enter the body by a number of routes, including the respiratory tract. They should also be able to induce protective immunity rapidly and would ideally be given non-invasively. There are few vaccines which currently meet these requir Read More

Vaccinia viruses engineered to express foreign genes are powerful vectors for production of recombinant proteins. Originating from highly efficacious vaccines securing world-wide eradication of smallpox, the most appealing use of vaccinia vectors is to serve as vaccine delivery system for heterologous antigens. Concerns about the safety of vaccinia virus have been addressed by the development of vectors based on att Read More