title: Alternative screening approaches for discovery of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus inhibitors.
abstract: Two coronaviruses causing severe respiratory disease and high mortality rates emerging within the past dozen years reinforces the need for clinically efficacious antivirals targeting coronaviruses. Alternative screening approaches for antivirals against the recently emergent Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) may provide lead compounds to address this need. Two Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (AAC) papers screened libraries of approved compounds that may potentially be repurposed as MERS-CoV antivirals. A third AAC paper showed that a previously described severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) helicase inhibitor also has activity against MERS-CoV.
authors.affiliation: Editor, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, USA robert.lafemina@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: LaFemina
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D058492:Drug Repositioning; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D006801:Humans; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries