Advances in structure-assisted antiviral discovery for animal viral diseases

The latest advancements in drug development are structure-assisted and computer-aided identification, design, and synthesis of target-specific antiviral. Structural virology of animal viruses has made valuable contribution to our understanding of viruses in general, replication, evolution, and interaction with the host. Structure–function relation studies are definitely the need of the hour for rational design of drugs and vaccines to effectively treat animal viral diseases. These studies are important for economical, veterinary, and human medical perspectives. X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance and cryo-electron microscopy techniques elaborate the structure–function relation studies by utilizing various computational approaches for structure-assisted designing of drug molecules and antiviral against viruses. Availability of protein three-dimensional structures, high-performance computing, data management software, and internet are enhancing the modern day drug discovery process. Computational tools offer the advantage of delivering new drug candidates more quickly and at a lower cost. Various viral proteins that are necessary for the survival of the virus inside the host are discussed in this chapter such as viral polymerase, helicase, protease, etc. Various antiviral drug molecules identified and designed on the basis of the structure of viral proteins which are highlighted, and disclosed details of the available inhibitors and potential antiviral are discussed. Further improvement in identified inhibitors, the need of novel structure-based drugs and their clinical testing is emphasized. This chapter describes briefly the structural techniques and advances made in animal virology toward structure-based identification and development of antiviral for treatment of animal viruses. In the future, the studies discussed may serve as the basis for development of potential antiviral against animal viral diseases.