3.3 Inhibition of Replicase Protein Expression
Following the uncoating step, the replicase gene of the viral genome encodes two large polyproteins (pp1a and pp1ab) (Chan et al., 2020). Then, viral proteinases perform post-translational modification on the polyproteins yielding proteins that mediate the formation of viral replication complexes. The protease activities for all coronaviruses include both papain-like proteinase (PLP) and cornavirus 3C-like proteinase activities that are encoded within the replicase polyproteins and mediate cleavage events. Because of their unique and essential function in processing the viral polyprotein, these proteases are appropriate targets for the development of 2019-nCoV drugs.