An overview of antiviral agents against coronaviruses

Koronavirusi so poddružina Coronavirinae. Trenutno najbolj znan virus iz te poddružine je SARS-CoV-2. Gre za svetovno epidemijo. Bolezen, ki jo povzroča ta virus, so poimenovali COVID – 19. COVID – 19 se je prvič pojavil na Kitajskem v mestu Wuhan (konec decembra leta 2019). Prvi bolnik je imel znake atipične pljučnice. Virus se prenaša kapljično, to je s kašljanjem ali kihanjem. Velik vpliv na prenos ima tudi onesnaževanje okolja. Virus hitro mutira, zato poznamo več različic virusa kot so: alfa, beta, gama, delta, epsilon in omikron. Virus lahko zajezimo s protivirusnimi učinkovinami. Najprej pa moramo poznati mehanizem delovanja samih učinkovin. Teh metod je več, in sicer: zaviranje vstopa virusa v gostiteljsko celico, inhibicija virusnih proteaz in polimeraz RNA ter zaviranje interferonov. Ključnega pomena za zajezitev virusa je preprečevanje širjenja bolezni. Zato je zelo pomembno razvijanje novih zdravil in cepiv, ki bi pri tem pomagali. V diplomski nalogi sem podrobneje opisala načrtovanje cepiv in sama cepiva, ki se uporabljajo pri COVID – 19. Poznamo: rekombinantna proteinska cepiva, atenuirana cepiva, inaktivirana cepiva, cepiva na osnovi DNA in RNA ter vektorska cepiva.Coronaviruses are a subfamily of the Coronavirinae. Currently, the best known virus in this subfamily is SARS-CoV-2. It is a worldwide epidemic. The disease caused by this virus has been named COVID-19. COVID-19 made its first appearance in Wuhan, China (end of December 2019). The first patient had signs of atypical pneumonia. The virus is transmitted by droplets, i.e. by coughing or sneezing. Environmental pollution also plays a major role in transmission. The virus mutates rapidly and there are several known variants of the virus: alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon and omicron. The virus can be contained with antiviral agents. But first we need to know the mechanism of action of the active substances themselves. There are several methods: inhibition of virus entry into the host cell, inhibition of viral proteases and RNA polymerases, and inhibition of interferons. Preventing the spread of the disease is the key to containing the virus. Developing new drugs and vaccines to help with this is therefore very important. In my thesis I described in more detail the vaccine design and the vaccines used in COVID-19: recombinant protein vaccines, attenuated vaccines, inactivated vaccines, DNA- and RNA-based vaccines and vector vaccines