Broadly reactive drugs for flu

Abstract

Influenza Drugs for influenza are limited. For those available, viral resistance is rife. Part of the problem is that the virus is constantly mutating. Kadam et al. tested the cell entry stage of the virus life cycle as a drug target (see the Perspective by Whitehead). Cell entry is mediated by the major surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA). This stage can be blocked by broadly neutralizing antibodies binding to HA. The authors generated small cyclic peptides that bind to the same sites on HA as the antibodies and mimic their activity. The peptides are cheap and easy to synthesize, are nontoxic to mice, and prevented infection of cells by many types of influenza virus. Science , this issue p. [496][1]; see also p. [450][2] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aan0516 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aap9608