Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Pharmacol. Nov 29, 2024; 13(2): 97723
Published online Nov 29, 2024. doi: 10.5497/wjp.v13.i2.97723
Preterminal protein, the achilles heel of adenoviridae: Implications for adenoviral infections
Harold A Walsh
Harold A Walsh, Faculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6139, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Author contributions: Walsh HA performed the research detailed in this study; the author has read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: For a more detailed account of the preparatory materials and protocols used, refer to Addendum A. For information on eukaryotic cell line, Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells, refer to Addendum B: Liu H, Naismith JH, Hay RT. Identification of conserved residues contributing to the activities of adenovirus DNA polymerase. J Virol 2000; 74: 11681-11689 [PMID: 11090167 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.74.24.11681-11689.2000]. For certificate of analysis of GlycoPro® endo-O-glycosidase TM (recombinant from Streptococcus pneumonia), refer to Addendum C.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Harold A Walsh, PhD, Lecturer, Researcher, Faculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacology, Rhodes University, Drostdy Road, Grahamstown 6139, Eastern Cape, South Africa. h.walsh@ru.ac.za
Received: June 13, 2024
Revised: October 3, 2024
Accepted: November 12, 2024
Published online: November 29, 2024
Processing time: 168 Days and 6.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: A key objective in antiviral research is to recognize appropriate targets within the viral life cycle that are independent of normal host cellular functions. Adenoviruses (Ad) utilize a ‘unique’ protein priming mechanism that requires a viral protein, preterminal protein (pTP), for the initiation of replication. Therefore, it appears that pTP could potentially be a target for chemotherapeutic intervention. The finding that glycosylation of cloned pTP (in situ) in insect cells (Spodoptera frugiperda) prevents binding to ssDNA (in vitro) could prove useful in developing an effective treatment that facilitates the generation of an abortive adenoviral replication complex that would adversely affect human Ad virulence and propagation.