Inhibition of Human Cytomegalovirus Entry into Host Cells through A Pleiotropic Small Molecule

Elste, James; Kaltenbach, Dominik; Patel, Vraj R.; Nguyen, Max T.; Sharthiya, Harsh; Tandon, Ritesh; Mehta, Satish K.; Volin, Michael V.; Fornaro, Michele; Tiwari, Vaibhav; Desai, Umesh R.

Few drugs are currently available for HCMV treatment including ganciclovir, valganciclovir, foscarnet, cidofovir, and fomivirsen [35] . Yet, as a group these carry a number of limitations including toxicity arising from prolonged therapy, limited effectiveness, poor bioavailability, and acquired resistance to common targets [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] . The discovery of new anti-HCMV agents with better efficacy and novel mechanism of action is a critical goal [40] . More specifically, for HCMV it would beneficial to develop an agent that could simultaneously target multiple receptors involved in viral entry so as to more effectively prevent bypass pathways.