Research progress on the replication mechanisms of important human-infecting RNA viruses and polymerase-directed drug development

Abstract

Recently, emerging infectious viral diseases including Lassa fever, Ebola, COVID-19 and Nipah, have posed a great threat to the public health and development of human society. Developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs is one of the major strategies to deal with them. The viral polymerase is responsible for the genomic replication and transcription and the protein sequence is highly conserved, making it an ideal target for drug development. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge about the working mechanisms of important human-infecting RNA virus polymerases and development of polymerase-targeting drugs, which will provide new insights into the control and prevention of emerging infectious diseases in the future.

Keywords

• rna viruses
• polymerase
• structure
• drug development