Antiviral therapeutic approaches for human rhinovirus infections

Casanova, Victor; Sousa, Filipa H; Stevens, Craig; Barlow, Peter G

However, studies have also revealed that cathelicidins have the ability to inactivate nonenveloped viruses, such as adenovirus and RV [70, 80, 82] . In the context of RV, it was found that optimal inhibition of virus replication was reached when the virus was directly exposed to the peptide prior to infection of cells. However, studies with other viral pathogens have shown that host cell pretreatment or delayed treatment with exogenous LL-37 also inhibited RSV and IAV replication to an extent [83, 84, 85] . In vivo studies have also demonstrated the ability of LL-37 to modulate inflammatory responses to viral infections by inhibiting excessive inflammation in IAV-infected mice [77] . This indicates that the mechanisms underpinning cathelicidins antiviral activity are complex and that direct interaction with virus particles allows peptide-mediated damage of, or binding to, the viral envelope may be a key requirement for this activity. However, interactions with host cells and modulation of the inflammatory and innate antiviral response could also be of critical importance in the activities of these peptides.