Topic overview

Start with the big picture

Antiviral mechanisms can be grouped by the stage or process they disrupt. Some prevent attachment, entry, or membrane fusion; others interfere with uncoating and genome release. Replication can be targeted through viral polymerases, reverse transcriptase, or integrase, including nucleos(t)ide analogs that terminate chain elongation and allosteric inhibitors that impair enzyme activity. Later steps are also vulnerable: protease inhibitors disrupt polyprotein processing, neuraminidase inhibitors hinder influenza virion release, and terminase or packaging-enzyme inhibitors affect genome encapsidation. Additional strategies impair viral mRNA capping, stimulate host antiviral responses through interferons, or restrict cellular cofactors needed for replication. Together, these targets provide a framework for comparing antiviral actions across different viruses.