[Dengue virus: viral targets and antiviral drugs]

This work reviews the opportunities and scientific bases in the development of anti-dengue drugs. The timeliness of anti-dengue drug development is addressed in the context of the growing impact of dengueworldwide and existing strategies to fight the virus. The antiviral approach in therapy or prophylaxis during an epidemic as well as the impact of recent technological advances in drug-discovery and antiviral chemotherapy on the development of anti-dengue drugs are discussed. An analysis of current sources of synthetic or natural drugs is provided. Finally, we summarize the current knowledge on dengue virus proteins, which are currently considered the most viable as drug targets, as the envelop protein E and non-structural proteins NS3 and NS5 carrying protease, helicase, RNA triphosphatase, methyltransferase and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities. Other viral proteins proposed to be part of the replication complex and the complex itself are considered as potential targets of anti-dengue drugs. State-of-the-art methods are listed, that are expected to allow the discovery, design, and characterisation of anti-dengue drugs effective against the four serotypes.