Structural studies of herpesvirus proteases establish that they belong to a new class of serine proteases and contain a novel Ser-His-His catalytic triad. Peptidomimetic inhibitors bind to the protease by forming an anti-parallel beeta-sheet with the enzyme. There are large conformational changes in the protease upon inhibitor binding, indicating that the protease is an induced-fit enzyme. Further studies are needed to understand the molecular basis for the dimerization requirement of the protease.
Keywords: HERPESVIRUS PROTEASES, Serine proteases, Peptidomimetic inhibitors, Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), HSV-2, varicellar-zoster virus (VZV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), human herpes virus 6 (HHV6), HHV7, gamma herpesviruses