Influenza is a contagious respiratory disease caused by the influenza A virus. The threat of influenza pandemics and the emergence of drug-resistant viruses necessitates the development of new antiviral drugs.
Influenza A virus is an RNA virus enclosed within a lipoprotein envelope, which contains two membrane glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). HA recognises and binds to cell surface receptors with terminal sialic acid residues while NA cleaves the receptor, releasing influenza virions from the infected cells.
Further details: Novel synthetic influenza inhibitors