Identification of neuraminidase inhibitors by structure-based screening: promising new leads for influenza

Human influenza commonly known as seasonal flu which is caused by a RNA virus has been emerging as a major viral infection over the years. Virus neuraminidase inhibitors and M2 protein inhibitors are the agents which have been used to treat this viral infection. Among these two, viral neuraminidases named oseltamivir and zanamivir are most widely used as antiviral agents to treat influenza. But the recent emergence of resistance strains in the treatment with both zanamivir and oseltamivir creates a big problem to treat this viral infection effectively. In this study, we have designed 68 new human influenza virus neuraminidase inhibitors and reported them as new potential antiviral agents against the complex structure of influenza virus neuraminidase and sialic acid using various in silico tools and molecular docking analysis taking zanamivir as prototype.