Many viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, Hepatitis B, and Dengue have highly glycosylated outer layers which make it hard to find suitable ways to attack and stop the virus in its tracks. Recent research has pointed out that making specific antivirals for every virus can be a slow moving process, and a game-changing alternative could be making a drug that can target a multitude of viruses. Professor Gideon Davies and team developed a series of inhibitors to block the human enzyme that cuts sugar molecules from proteins during their production. The inhibitors showed great potential in dengue viruses!
Many encapsulated viruses have this glycosylation step where sugar molecules coat newly assembled proteins, and the sugar molecules not only have coating properties but carry instructions for protein folding and transport as well. The trimming step of viruses involves an enzyme "Manea" which is a part of quality control as the virus uses the cell's machinery to copy. If researchers can block "Manea" in this biosynthetic pathway, it would make for a very great drug target.
Not to sugar-coat these studies, but creating a drug that can be used for many viruses is an awesome concept, and to stop a common glycosylation step could be a very good way to accomplish this. It will be very interesting to see how effective these drugs are and what potential side effects could result in halting a process used by proteins in the body.
-Sammy
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201106113919.htm
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