Glycobiology against viruses: Antiviral drug discovery
Zitzmann N., O'Leary JM., Dwek RA.
Most aspects of glycobiology play important roles in the 'life' of viruses, for example in the correct folding of their envelope glycoproteins as well as in immune representation and escape. The pathogenicity of three major human pathogens, HCV (hepatitis C virus), HBV (hepatitis B virus) and HIV, which collectively infect more than 560 million people worldwide, is dependent on their glycoproteins. As the sugars (or glycans) that the viruses rely on are supplied by the host cell, we can exploit our knowledge of glycobiology to target this apparent Achilles' heel of these viruses. © 2006 Biochemical Society.