인간 허피스바이러스에 대한 G-quadruplex 결합 리간드의 항바이러스 효과

Abstract

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are noncanonical secondary nucleic acid structures constituted by stacking of guanine rich planar shaped tetrad formations that form a complex. G4s are implicated for various important roles in key cellular processes transcription, translation, telomere maintenance, epigenetic regulation, replication, and recombination. G-quadruplexes were first discovered as important structures in oncology, but for the past decade its relevance in viruses is becoming more evident. Human herpesviruses are DNA viruses of the Herpesviridae family and are unique in characteristic with two types of infection which can be distinguished by lytic and latency establishment in the host. During latency the virus maintains lifelong dormancy and intermittently undergoes reactivation, causing the host medical problems. Recently there are increasing number of reports regarding role of G4s in viral genomes and the potential antiviral efficacy of G4 ligands, including G4s in latency. Many results suggest viral G4s play significant roles in the virus life cycle and treatment of G4 ligands exhibit antiviral activities in both lytic and latent infections. In this review, the importance of G4s in herpesvirus genomes will be introduced with the potent G4 ligands used to study these mechanisms and finally explain the distinct functional properties of each G4 ligands.