Abstract
Lack of highly effective and safe therapeutics for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection provides an opportunity as well as a challenge to discover novel and potent anti-HCV drugs. HCV NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is responsible for viral genome replication and thus constitutes a valid target for therapeutic intervention. To date, numerous HCV NS5B RdRp inhibitors have been discovered. This review focuses on the recent advances in discovery, mechanism of action studies and biological characterization of several distinct classes of potent inhibitors for NS5B RdRp. The clinical efficacy and developmental status of several promising compounds are also outlined.
Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, HCV, NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, polymerase inhibitor, structure-activity relationship, nucleoside analogue, non-nucleoside inhibitor, allosteric inhibitor, mechanism of action, drug resistance