title: Hamao Umezawa Memorial Award Lecture: "An Odyssey in the Viral Chemotherapy Field".
abstract: In the search of effective and selective chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of viral infections, my "Odyssey" brought me to explore a variety of approaches, encompassing interferon and interferon inducers, suramin and other polyanionic substances, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibitors, inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase inhibitors, 5-substituted 2'-deoxyuridines such as (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine, acyclovir (esters) and other acyclic guanosine analogues, 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside analogues, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), bicyclams, and acyclic nucleoside phosphonates. This had led to the identification of a number of compounds, efficacious against such important viral pathogens as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and other herpesviruses, pox-, adeno-, polyoma-, and papillomaviruses, and hemorrhagic fever viruses.
authors.affiliation: Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. erik.declercq@rega.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Clercq
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001596:Benzylamines; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000080027:Cyclams; D004267:DNA Viruses / Q000187:drug effects*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000276:immunology; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000071228:Polyelectrolytes; D011108:Polymers / Q000494:pharmacology; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D001596:Benzylamines; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D000080027:Cyclams; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006571:Heterocyclic Compounds; D007372:Interferons; D009705:Nucleosides; D000071228:Polyelectrolytes; D011108:Polymers; C020235:brivudine; C088327:plerixafor