How Much Potential Do Nucleoside Analogs Offer to Combat Human Corona Viruses?

Abstract

Nucleoside analogs (NAs) have been extensively examined as plausible antiviral agents in recent years, in particular since the outbreak of the global pandemic of COVID-19 in 2019. In this review, the structures and antiviral properties of over 450 NAs are collected according to the type of virus, namely SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, and HCoV-NL63. The activity of the NAs against HCoV-related enzymes is also presented. Selected studies dealing with the mode of action of the NAs are discussed in detail. The repurposing of known NAs appears to be the most extensively investigated scientific approach towards efficacious anti-HCoV agents. The recently reported de novo-designed NAs seem to open up additional approaches to new drug candidates.

Keywords

• coronavirus
• drug development
• nucleoside analogs
• drug repurposing