Rhinovirus RNA Polymerase: Structure, Function, and Inhibitors

Nirwan, Sonam; Kakkar, Rita

Human rhinovirus is responsible for causing 50% of common cold infections in infants and adults. It belongs to the picornavirus family of nonenveloped positive-strand RNA viruses. The RNA synthesis of rhinovirus is carried out by RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, also known as 3D(Pol). It catalyzes the synthesis of negative-strand RNA using a positive-strand template. The structure of the enzyme consists of three domains: palm, fingers, and thumb domains and Mg(2+) in the active site. These conserved structural features of the enzyme help in catalyzing phosphodiester bond formation between the two consecutive nucleotide units complimentary to the template RNA using a VPg primer. Owing to the presence of over 100 serotypes of the enzyme, designing specific inhibitors targeting the polymerase is a challenging task and until now no clinically approved antirhino viral drug is reported. In this review, we have given detailed information about the structure and function of the enzyme and also discussed some of the inhibitors and their in vivo activity against 3D(Pol).