Perspective of Use of Antiviral Peptides against Influenza Virus

Abstract

The threat of a worldwide influenza pandemic has greatly increased over the past decade with the emergence of highly virulent avian influenza strains. The increased frequency of drug-resistant influenza strains against currently available antiviral drugs requires urgent development of new strategies for antiviral therapy, too. The research in the field of therapeutic peptides began to develop extensively in the second half of the 20th century. Since then, the mechanisms of action for several peptides and their antiviral prospect received large attention due to the global threat posed by viruses. Here, we discussed the therapeutic properties of peptides used in influenza treatment. Peptides with antiviral activity against influenza can be divided into three main groups. First, entry blocker peptides such as a Flupep that interact with influenza hemagglutinin, block its binding to host cells and prevent viral fusion. Second, several peptides display virucidal activity, disrupting viral envelopes, e.g., Melittin. Finally, a third set of peptides interacts with the viral polymerase complex and act as viral replication inhibitors such as PB1 derived peptides. Here, we present a review of the current literature describing the antiviral activity, mechanism and future therapeutic potential of these influenza antiviral peptides.

Potencial antiviral e virucida da melitina e apamina contra herpesvírus bovino tipo 1 e vírus da diarreia viral bovina

“…Wachinger et al (1998) também encontraram ação de melitina livre sobre o HIV, porém com estudos moleculares, detectaram a inibição na síntese de RNA mensageiro. Devido à ação de peptídeos, o vírus Influenza também pode ser inativado por esse mecanismo, assim como pelo rompimento de envelope conforme descrito por Skalickova et al (2015). RNA-polimerase dependente de RNA viral (RdRp), uma enzima limitante na transcrição e replicação do vírus influenza é composta por três subunidades (PB1, PB2 e PA).…”

“…Nos últimos anos, pesquisadores têm explorado diversos métodos para melhorar a tecnologia de síntese e ação desses peptídeos (Fosgerau & Hoffmann 2015). Os mecanismos de ação antiviral de peptídeos incluem principalmente a inibição da penetração viral na célula, destruição do envelope viral e inibição da replicação viral (Skalickova et al 2015).…”

Insilico Alpha-Helical Structural Recognition of Temporin Antimicrobial Peptides and Its Interactions with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus

“…These peptide classes are collectively known as temporins and have shown the highest activity among AMPs studied till date, against both human erythrocytes and bacterial strains. The mode of action of AMPs against bacterial cells has been extensively identified and documented; their antiviral functions were not fully understood (Skalickova et al 2015). Recent findings have suggested the efficacy of various classes of AMPs and their specific mode of action against viral pathogens and the potential use of these AMPs as an antiviral therapy (Marcocci et al 2018;Ahmed et al 2019).…”

Enhanced inhibition of influenza virus infection by peptide-noble metal nanoparticle conjugates

“…The promise of peptide-based antiviral drugs is established by the Food and Drug Administration's (USA) approval of Enfuvirtidie against HIV (Cooper and Lange, 2004). The mode of action of antiviral peptides falls into three categories which are: (i) entry blocker peptides, which inhibit viral attachment and virus-cell membrane fusion; (ii) viral envelope targeting peptides, which disrupt the viral envelope; (iii) viral polymerase peptides, which inhibit replication of virus genome inside the infected cell by interacting with viral polymerase (Skalickova et al, 2015). In vitro, several viral diseases have been treated with peptides such as HIV (Lee et al, 2014), (Pessi et al, 2009), hepatitis C (Abe et al, 2007), herpes simplex (Jenssen, 2005), (Jaishankar et al, 2015), and influenza virus (Albericio and Kruger, 2012, She et al, 2008, Nicol et al, 2012.…”