title: Broad-spectrum antiviral agents.
abstract: Development of highly effective, broad-spectrum antiviral agents is the major objective shared by the fields of virology and pharmaceutics. Antiviral drug development has focused on targeting viral entry and replication, as well as modulating cellular defense system. High throughput screening of molecules, genetic engineering of peptides, and functional screening of agents have identified promising candidates for development of optimal broad-spectrum antiviral agents to intervene in viral infection and control viral epidemics. This review discusses current knowledge, prospective applications, opportunities, and challenges in the development of broad-spectrum antiviral agents.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Da
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jia
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN, USA.
authors.forename: Hwa-Chain R
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: antiviral agent; broad-spectrum; cellular defense; replication; viral entry