Enzymatic Assays to Explore Viral mRNA Capping Machinery

In eukaryotes, mRNA is modified by the addition of the 7‐methylguanosine (m(7)G) 5′ cap to protect mRNA from premature degradation, thereby enhancing translation and enabling differentiation between self (endogenous) and non‐self RNAs (e. g., viral ones). Viruses often develop their own mRNA capping pathways to augment the expression of their proteins and escape host innate immune response. Insights into this capping system may provide new ideas for therapeutic interventions and facilitate drug discovery, e. g., against viruses that cause pandemic outbreaks, such as beta‐coronaviruses SARS‐CoV (2002), MARS‐CoV (2012), and the most recent SARS‐CoV‐2. Thus, proper methods for the screening of large compound libraries are required to identify lead structures that could serve as a basis for rational antiviral drug design. This review summarizes the methods that allow the monitoring of the activity and inhibition of enzymes involved in mRNA capping.