Mechanism of action, clinical research and development, and application prospect of hepatitis B virus core protein allosteric modulators / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the main pathogenic factor for chronic hepatitis, and if it is not treated timely and effectively, it may have the risk of developing into end-stage liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Neither of the two types of antiviral drugs currently used in clinical practice can completely inhibit viral replication or eliminate viral transcriptional template, which means that covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) exists in infected liver cells for a long time, and thus patients with chronic hepatitis B require long-term or even lifelong medication. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop novel anti-HBV drugs. Core protein allosteric modulators (CpAM) are a type of novel anti-HBV drugs and can interfere with HBV nucleocapsid assembly and inhibit the depolymerization of mature nucleocapsid, the formation of cccDNA, and the biogenesis and secretion of HBeAg. CpAM have a great potential in clinical application since they act on various links of viral replication. This article reviews the function of CpAM target protein-core protein, the classification, action targets, and anti-HBV mechanism of CpAM, and the current research status, further development, and application prospect of CpAM.